UAE salaries are due on the 1st: Ministerial Resolution No. 340 of 2026, day by day

Since 1 June 2026, UAE private-sector wages for each month are due on the first day of the next Gregorian month. Ministerial Resolution No. 340 of 2026 treats any later payment as a delay. A company counts as compliant when it transfers at least 85% of total wages by then, and measures start on the second day after.

What changed. 1 June 2026: Ministerial Resolution No. 340 of 2026 on the Wage Protection System (WPS), issued by the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation (MOHRE), came into force and repealed Ministerial Resolution No. 598 of 2022. A salary is no longer "late" only after 15 days: any payment after the 1st is a delay.

What Resolution 340 says in five lines

The resolution is short. Its first two articles change how every payroll team plans its month:

• One due date for everyone. The first day of each Gregorian month is the due date for the previous month's wages, in every private-sector establishment registered with MOHRE.
• After the 1st is a delay. Any payment made after that date counts as a delay. The contract payday no longer moves it.
• Pay through WPS. Wages go through the Wage Protection System, or any other system MOHRE adopts, and the company must submit the documents and data that prove payment.
• The 85% line. A company is compliant when, by the due date, it transfers at least 85% of the total wages due. A worker who receives at least 85% of their wage, with the rest withheld as lawful deductions, counts as paid.
• Delegating does not shift the duty. A company may let someone else pay its wages, but it stays responsible for paying on time.

The 85% line is a test for the company, not a discount. The resolution says it applies without prejudice to each worker's right to the full wage.

The old rule and the new rule

In short: the margin went from more than two weeks to none, and the line went up.

What MOHRE does on each day of delay

The measures are in the resolution's annex. They count days after the due date, and each one targets a different group of companies:

The annex is not fully consistent on day 21. Its measures name companies with fewer than 50 workers (an executive instrument for the wages), while its target column names companies with 50 or more; and the referral to the Public Prosecution reads "more than 50" in one column and "50 or more" in the other. A company with fewer than 50 workers should not assume day 21 passes it by.

The resolution does not print the fine amounts. It points to Cabinet Resolution No. 21 of 2020, so check the current amount with MOHRE rather than a news story. Article 6 also says MOHRE will issue a procedural guide for applying the resolution.

A worked example: the October 2026 payroll

Take an illustrative trading company with 40 workers and total October wages of AED 200,000.

• Due date: October wages were due on Sunday 1 November 2026. The resolution makes no exception for weekends, so plan the transfer for the last working day before the 1st and check your bank's or exchange house's cut-off time.
• The 85% test: 85% of AED 200,000 is AED 170,000. Say the company transfers AED 164,000 by the 1st and the rest a week later: it has paid 82%. Under the 2022 rule (more than 80%) that passed; under Resolution 340 it is non-compliant.
• The calendar while wages stay unpaid, in our reading, which counts 2 November as the first day after the due date: alerts from 3 November and new work permits suspended on 6 November. If this is a repeat within six months, the fine and the Third Category follow on 12 November.
• Size matters: with 40 workers the company is in the day-16 group (25 workers or more), so wages still unpaid on 17 November mean automatic labour disputes and suspended work permits.

The cheapest fix is the boring one: move the whole payroll timetable a few days earlier.

A payroll month that ends on the 1st

Work backwards from the 1st. The days below are a suggestion, not a legal rule; set your own and write them down.

1. Around the 20th: close attendance, overtime and leave for the month. Attendance data is the usual reason a run is late.
2. Around the 23rd: run payroll and check the exceptions: new joiners, leavers, unpaid leave, deductions.
3. Around the 25th: approve the run and fund the salary account.
4. The last working day before the 1st: submit the WPS salary file to your bank or exchange house and keep its reference.
5. On the 1st and 2nd: check for rejected lines and pay them at once. Keep the proof of payment the resolution asks for.
6. Every month: record workers who are outside WPS, such as approved unpaid leave or an absconding report, with the documents MOHRE requires.

Our complete WPS guide explains the salary file and who must use the system.

Who is outside the Wage Protection System

Article 4 of the resolution excludes some workers and some employers:

• workers with a wage claim referred to court or an executive instrument, within the limits of that claim;
• workers under a valid absconding report;
• workers whose liberty is restricted by an order or judgment, for the time they cannot work, once MOHRE is notified;
• workers on approved unpaid leave, once MOHRE is notified and documents are submitted;
• seafarers on ships, at the company's request and under MOHRE's decision;
• foreign workers of foreign companies, or their UAE branches, who are paid outside the UAE, on request and with the workers' approval;
• holders of mission work permits of up to three months;
• fishing boats owned by individual citizens;
• public taxis owned by individual citizens;
• banks and financial institutions;
• places of worship.

Every other private-sector establishment registered with MOHRE, and every other worker, is covered. If your company uses one of these exclusions, keep the paperwork ready.

How Tarleaks helps

Tarleaks Payroll generates the UAE WPS salary file and records each file with its deadline and status: generated, submitted, accepted or rejected. The deadline is the pay period's end plus a number of days set in Settings. It starts at 15, the old rule, so a UAE company paid by calendar month should set 1 to land on the 1st. A daily check then reminds you before the deadline and alerts you when an approved run has no submitted file. Pay itself still moves through your bank or exchange house.

What to do next

• Move your payroll cut-off and approval dates so the transfer leaves before the 1st.
• Check last month: did you transfer at least 85% of total wages by the 1st?
• If your payroll tool cannot meet the 1st, use our checklist for choosing HR and payroll software.
• Book a demo to see a payroll run, its WPS file and the deadline reminders.

Questions people ask

What is Ministerial Resolution 340 of 2026?

The UAE Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation's resolution on the Wage Protection System. In force since 1 June 2026, it makes the first day of each month the due date for the previous month's private-sector wages, sets the 85% compliance line and replaces Ministerial Resolution No. 598 of 2022.

When must salaries be paid in the UAE private sector?

By the first day of each Gregorian month, for the previous month, through the Wage Protection System or another system the Ministry adopts. October wages, for example, were due on 1 November 2026.

When is a salary late in the UAE?

Any payment after the first day of the month is a delay under Ministerial Resolution No. 340 of 2026. The old rule, which counted a salary as late only after 15 days, was repealed from 1 June 2026.

What happens if an employer pays salaries late?

Alerts start on the 2nd day after the due date and new work permits are suspended on day 5. A repeat within six months brings a fine and the Third Category on day 11. Companies with 25 or more workers face automatic labour disputes on day 16, and further enforcement follows on day 21.

What is the 85% rule in the Wage Protection System?

A company counts as compliant when it transfers at least 85% of the total wages due by the due date. It is a compliance threshold, not a discount: every worker keeps the right to their full wage.

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General information, not legal advice. Checked against the official sources listed on this page on 2 November 2026, in the English texts MOHRE publishes. Confirm your position with the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation or your adviser.