How does DEWS work if you work in DIFC?

DEWS is the DIFC Employee Workplace Savings Plan. DIFC employers must pay a monthly contribution for each employee into a qualifying scheme instead of building up gratuity, and DEWS is the plan DIFC set up for that.¹²

How much must your employer pay?

For this, your basic wage cannot be counted as less than 50% of your monthly wage. The contribution is due on your full basic wage even in a month with deductions, reduced sick or maternity pay, or unpaid leave.¹ The contributions are paid by the employer and are not deducted from your salary. An employer can pay more than the minimum.³

Your employer must register you in a qualifying scheme within two months of your start date, with contributions backdated. An employer may hold back contributions during your probation. If you are confirmed, they are paid back to your start date. If you are not confirmed, none are due.¹

Check your payslip for the basic wage figure and multiply it by 5.83% or 8.33%. The savings scheme calculator does the sum.

What about service before DEWS started?

DEWS started on 1 February 2020.³ For service before your employer’s scheme start date, you keep a gratuity payment once you have one year of continuous service: 21 days of basic wage for each of the first five years and 30 days for each further year, capped at two times your annual wage. The daily rate is your basic wage divided by 365, worked out on the wage at your termination date.¹

Your employer may move that past gratuity into the scheme. With your written consent it is then free of any further gratuity duty. Without your consent the money stays in the employer’s name and the employer still owes you the gratuity when you leave.¹³

If your employer asks you to consent to a transfer, ask for the amount and the calculation in writing first.

Do Emiratis and GCC nationals get DEWS?

UAE and GCC nationals must be registered with the General Pension and Social Security Authority (GPSSA) and do not get a gratuity payment. If the employer’s GPSSA contribution is lower than the DEWS minimum would have been, the employee gets a top-up into a qualifying scheme, where the monthly top-up is AED 1,000 or more.¹ See GCC nationals working in the UAE.

Who runs DEWS?

DIFC names Equiom as master trustee and Zurich Middle East as plan administrator, with Mercer as investment adviser and Smart Pension as technology provider.² Zurich says all three regulated parties, the trustee, administrator and investment adviser, are regulated by the Dubai Financial Services Authority.⁴

DIFC also lists a second qualifying scheme, GO SAVER, administered by Sukoon Workplace Savings Solutions.² Profiles of both administrators are on the providers page.

What does DEWS cost?

The fees are taken daily through the fund price. Bank charges apply when you withdraw, depending on amount, currency and the receiving bank’s country.³

Where is your money invested?

If you make no choice, your money goes into the default Low/Moderate Growth fund. You can choose other options at any time, including Sharia-compliant ones.⁵

Can you save more, and take money out?

You can add voluntary contributions through salary deduction, if your employer has opted in to that feature. While still employed you can take up to two withdrawals a year from your voluntary savings, each up to 30% of that pot. The employer’s contributions are only available when you leave.⁵

The DEWS guide puts no minimum on voluntary contributions and caps them at 100% of your basic salary in a pay period.³

What happens when you leave?

You can withdraw all or part of your balance online, or leave it invested. Zurich says it can pay locally or internationally. If you move to another DIFC employer, a new account is opened, and the two accounts cannot be combined.⁵

Name your beneficiaries in your DEWS account. Payment on death is at the trustee’s discretion, guided by your nomination.⁵

The small print

• Articles. GPSSA registration for UAE and GCC nationals is Article 65, gratuity before the scheme start and qualifying scheme contributions Article 66 of DIFC Law No. 2 of 2019, Consolidated Version No. 5 of July 2025.¹
• Part months. Where you pass five years of service part way through a month, the law splits that month’s contribution between the two rates by day.¹
• Outside DIFC. Zurich also offers a DEWS plan for Dubai Government entities and free zone authorities, not yet for private sector or free zone member companies.⁵
• Fees. Fee figures are from the undated DEWS Employer Executive Guide. Check the current fund factsheets in your DEWS account.³