Today's Edition
The General Pension and Social Security Authority (GPSSA) highlighted the significance of merging previous service periods to enhance an insured individual's chances of securing a better retirement pension scheme by extending employment years until the insured completes the necessary period for pension eligibility.
As part of the "End it Right" campaign's mission to ensure that insured individuals receive the highest possible retirement pension, individuals anticipating working for 20 years or more are likely to receive greater benefits, regardless of whether their employment years were merged or continuous.
The UAE Pension Law permits insured individuals to combine previous service years with subsequent ones, provided that all relevant regulations and requirements are met. Merging services is optional but advisable, as it allows the insured to add any desired number of years repeatedly.
Additional costs are calculated by multiplying the contribution account salary at the time of submitting the additional service request by 20 per cent, representing the contribution percentage from both the insured and the employer, and then multiplying it by the number of months to be added.
The GPSSA's Board of Directors has made the process more accessible by allowing insured individuals to pay the additional cost in instalments over four years without requiring an initial down payment, with monthly instalments equivalent to at least a quarter of the salary in compliance with the UAE Pension Law.
To add a new service period, insured individuals must ensure that their initial request is settled, with the calculation of additional periods corresponding to the amounts already paid and based on the contribution calculation salary at the time of the new request.
The insured can choose to pay the merge service costs either as a lump sum or in monthly instalments. Failure to pay two consecutive installments on time may result in the request being cancelled.
The calculation of the merged service period is based on the amounts paid, and if an insured individual's service ends without full payment of the merge cost, the additional service period is determined accordingly.
The obligation to continue instalment payments is waived if the insured is deceased, provided that at least 50 per cent of the total cost has been paid. If the amount paid is less than 50 per cent, the remaining percentage will be deducted from the individual's pension.
To add a service period, the insured individual must submit a written request to their entity before the end of the service period. Moreover, to be eligible for a pension and/or end-of-service benefits, the combined employment years must not have expired for any reason and must not include temporary, freelance, daily-wage, or training positions.
