Ministerial Resolution No. 340 of 2026 sets the first day of the month as the single payment date for private sector wages and abolishes the fifteen-day grace period. The Wage Protection System compliance threshold rises from 80% to 85%. Consequences begin on the second day of delay.
What happened
Ministerial Resolution No. 340 of 2026, issued by the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation (MoHRE), establishes the first day of each Gregorian month as the single date for payment of the previous month's wages, for every private sector employer. It applies from 1 June 2026. Any payment made after that date counts as late, and the fifteen-day grace period allowed under the previous regime has been abolished.
What changes in practice
Two things change together. The first is the date: no longer "by the fifteenth of the month" but the first, with no margin. The second is the compliance threshold of the Wage Protection System (WPS), the electronic salary monitoring system through which private sector wages must be paid: the proportion of wages that must show as settled through the system rises from 80% to 85%, which narrows lawful deductions to 15%. The scale of consequences begins on the second day of delay with notifications and formal warnings; from the fifth day the Ministry may suspend the issue of new work permits; from the eleventh, where violations have recurred within six months, it may impose administrative fines and downgrade the establishment to the third category of the ministerial classification; from the sixteenth it may register labour disputes on its own initiative and suspend permits already issued.
Who it applies to
Any UAE private sector company with employees, mainland or free zone. This includes single-owner companies where the owner is employed by their own entity: that salary also runs through the Wage Protection System.
The exposure
The real damage is not the fine, it is the block on work permits. A company that can no longer issue permits from the fifth day of delay cannot hire the person it needs and cannot renew visas that are expiring. The downgrade to third category then raises the cost of every subsequent government transaction and stays attached to the company for months.
What to do now
Check the credit date of the last three payrolls and the compliance percentage recorded by the system. If cash typically arrives mid-month, the buffer has to be built before the next first of the month, not after the first late payment. Any employer that has already accumulated delays within the last six months carries an additional problem: recurrence is the criterion that triggers administrative fines.
Sources
- https://www.lexismiddleeast.com/law/UnitedArabEmirates/MinisterialDecision_340_2026/en
- https://gulfnews.com/uae/government/uae-sets-monthly-salary-deadline-for-private-sector-from-june-1-1.500544328
Published 19 August 2026 on the basis of public sources and official United Arab Emirates instruments. This is not legal or tax advice. Verify your position with a qualified professional before acting.