Why is Shourak important for employed Emiratis when deciding to switch jobs?

1,382 Emiratis have so far benefited from Shourak, announces the GPSSA

• Shourak is available for those wish to include their previous service years starting 1st July 2023 onwards
• Shourak is offered to employees who are employed or are transferred to an entity registered with the GPSSA
• Shourak maintains continuous periods of service in order to obtain a lucrative retirement pension

Abu Dhabi, 9th May 2023: Shourak (otherwise known as ‘preference’ in English), is the first transformational service launched by the General Pension and Social Security Authority (GPSSA) that allows insured Emiratis to merge their previous and subsequent employment years in order to receive the maximum pension amount possible, without having to incur an additional fee.

As part of GPSSA’s ‘Know Your Law’ awareness campaign and despite Shourak’s launch last year, some UAE-based entities remain confused about the work mechanisms behind Shourak. This press release is meant to address certain queries regarding Shourak and to support Emiratis to take informed decisions.

The first question regarding Shourak is “to whom does it apply?” Shourak simply applies to Emiratis employed in the government and private sector who wish to merge their former employment period to the subsequent one, given that their previous employment period has ended as of 1st July 2023 onwards.

The next rational question to ask would be, why would anyone want to apply for Shourak? In the event of changing jobs, Shourak ensures that employment years are continuous and connected, thereby increasing years of service and pension returns upon retirement. In such case, the insured does not receive an end-of-service gratuity until the retirement stage.

It is important to note that Shourak does not apply to those transferring from another pension fund or authority to the GPSSA; in other words, Shourak only caters to those who are “registered within the GPSSA” or “have transferred to an entity that is subject to the pension law.”

While the above-mentioned procedures aim to improve the quality of life of insured individuals and achieve financial stability for their families, it is important to be aware of situations by which Shourak is not applicable.

Shourak does not apply to previous and non-consolidated service periods, while “solely” catering to Emirati employees whose employment years have ended as of 1st July 2023. While Shourak aims to support insured Emiratis, who wish to merge their employment periods in order to receive the highest pension value, the program “does not” apply to pensioners, since pensioners already receive their share of pension. Lastly, Shourak “does not” include a period of service that is less than one year, since no gratuity is offered for a period less than a year.

As part of Shourak, an acknowledgement form needs to be signed at the end of the employee’s service period claiming that the end-of-service gratuity will not be paid for the purpose of merging employment years. Once that is done, the employee is required to join the new entity within six months from the end-of-service period. A merge request needs to be submitted within ‘three months’ from joining the new entity.

Finally, the insured cannot ask to receive an end-of-service gratuity after joining the subsequent entity, since the merge process is considered effective and binding as of the end-of-service date in the previous entity.

It is worth mentioning, that to date a total of 1,382 Emiratis whose employment period ended since the announcement of Shourak are eligible to benefit from the service. Emirati employees who wish to take advantage of Shourak, may do so through accessing the service via the following link: https://gpssa.gov.ae/en/Pages/MergeServicePeriod.aspx#/