How to claim ILOE unemployment insurance

Claim within 30 days of the date your employment ended. If your labour complaint was referred to court, the 30 days run from the court’s ruling.¹²

Can you claim?

Check each condition before you start. You can claim if:

• you have been subscribed for at least 12 consecutive months, with no break in payment of more than three months
• you have paid all your premiums on the schedule you chose
• you lost the job for a reason other than resignation
• you were not dismissed for disciplinary reasons
• no absence-from-work complaint is pending against you
• you are legally resident in the UAE.¹³

The 12-month rule is in the law itself.⁴

If you resigned, ILOE does not pay. Your gratuity is not affected by resigning; see gratuity after resignation.

How do you submit a claim?

Through one of these channels:

1. The ILOE website, www.iloe.ae.
2. The ILOE mobile app.
3. The ILOE call centre on 600599555.
4. Any other channel the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation (MOHRE) names with the insurance pool.²

Fill in the claim form and submit it to the administrator within the 30 days.³

What documents do you need?

• The dismissal document showing the date and the reason you lost the job.
• If you have a labour case against your employer, an undertaking to provide a copy of the final court ruling.
• Anything else the insurer asks for with MOHRE’s agreement, such as work permit cancellation or complaint records, if you say the details in your application are wrong.³

Get your termination letter on your last day. Without it you cannot show the reason the job ended.

How much will you get, and when?

60% of your basic salary a month, for up to three months, capped at AED 10,000 a month if your basic salary is AED 16,000 or less and AED 20,000 a month above that.¹ ILOE’s policy terms use the average basic salary over the six months before you lost the job.³

The insurer pays within two weeks of receiving a claim with the documents that meet the conditions, into the account you choose.¹ Use the ILOE calculator for your own salary.

What stops the payments?

Joining another employer while you are being paid stops the benefit.⁴ Each claim pays for at most three months, and your total over your working life in the UAE is capped at 12 months of benefit.¹

If you use the full three months, your certificate is cancelled and you must subscribe for another 12 consecutive months before a new claim. That does not apply if you received less than three months.³

If the insurer pays a claim you were not entitled to, for example because the dismissal turns out to be your fault in court, it can recover the full amount.³

What if your claim is rejected?

Complain to the insurer first. It should respond within five working days. After that you can complain to the Central Bank of the UAE.³

You pay nothing more after the claim payments end if your employment has ended.³ Your subscription and premium are set out on ILOE unemployment insurance. ILOE’s premiums are AED 5 or AED 10 a month plus VAT.⁵

Mark day 30 in your calendar now. The end of service dates tool gives the date from your last working day.

The small print

• Rules. Conditions are Article 9, benefit Article 10, the claim window Article 12 and payment within two weeks Article 13 of Cabinet Resolution No. 97 of 2022. The 12-month subscription and the stop on joining a new employer are Article 5 of Federal Decree-Law No. 13 of 2022.¹⁴
• Policy. Claim documents are Part VII, coverage limits Part V and complaints Part IX of the ILOE policy terms. The Arabic version of the policy is the adopted one.³
• Salary basis. The resolution bases the benefit on the subscription salary, defined as the basic monthly wage. The policy terms use the six-month average of basic salary. Ask ILOE which figure it used if your salary changed in the last six months.¹³