Employees can make their own investment choice once they have access to their DEWS online account. Investments can be viewed and changed by visiting the ‘Fund’ area and clicking ‘Manage my investments’.

Employees can either choose to invest wholly in one option or make their own combination by assigning different percentages to multiple options. Once the percentage shows as 100% the investment change can be submitted.

Employees are reminded that investment changes will apply to the full accumulated balance and any contributions received going forward.

For employers, the only fees incurred will be the bank charges applied by their bank to send the monthly contribution payment to DEWS.

Employees are subject to an annual percentage-based fee which is designed to be fair and equitable to all members, regardless of seniority or salary. The fees vary depending on which investment option, or combination thereof, that an employee selects. For the latest fee information, we would encourage employees to check the individual fund factsheets which are updated monthly and held in the DEWS online portal. Fees are built into the unit price of the underlying funds for each investment option and are deducted proportionately daily, so when employees refresh their valuation on the online portal, fees have already been taken into consideration.

Employees will also be subject to a bank charge when withdrawing their benefits upon leaving service (or when withdrawing in service if the employee is making additional voluntary contributions and choose to withdraw from this).

Within DEWS currently there are 10 investment options as follows:

The default option is the Low/Moderate Growth option (some employees may be excluded). The default has been chosen by the Trustee, under advisement of their appointed investment adviser, Mercer. The Low / Moderate Growth option has been selected as the default by the Trustee, under advisement of their appointed investment advisor, Mercer. You should be aware that:

• The underlying fund will aim to pursue a balanced investment strategy with exposure to a range of both defensive and growth assets.
• It may fluctuate in value and is designed for longer term investments. You should be prepared to stay invested for at least 5 years.
• You can switch your investment without charge at any time or take a withdrawal (sell your investment units) if you have left service/made voluntary contributions, or you may choose to hold the investment for longer depending on your preferences and objectives.

All contributions made into the plan will be invested in the default option unless employees make an active investment decision.

A capital protection bank account option will also be made available for those Dubai Government employees who do not wish to take any investment risk. This will be the default option for some employees as determined by the Government of Dubai. The capital protection bank account option will ensure that the member’s value will not reduce at any time (net of fees).

All investment options are denominated in USD.

Further details in respect of the investment options, including performance, objectives and target returns, can be found on our website or in the DEWS online portal.

No. Whilst the providers can set out in a factual way the investment options available to enable employees to make an informed decision, we are not permitted to provide any employees with investment advice, and we would always encourage employees to seek this independently if required.

Mercer provides investment advice to Equiom, the Master Trustee, relating to the range of investment options that are made available through the DEWS plan. 

An employee can view their daily account value through the DEWS online portal or app.

Employees can also track performance at the underlying fund level by using our Fund Centre tool under investments.

DEWS stands for the DIFC Employee Workplace Savings Plan. The plan was first introduced in February 2020 in the DIFC. As a result, employers needed to move their End of Service Gratuity liability management from a defined benefit structure to a funded, professionally managed defined contribution plan. DEWS was conceptualized after many years of consideration by working groups to transform and reform the way end-of-service benefits (EOSB) were managed and to drive a culture of long-term savings that is aligned to global best practices.

In 2022, the Government of Dubai announced their intent to launch the ‘Savings Scheme for Employees in the Government of Dubai’ and DEWS is a tailor-made and proven solution that will be introduced to deliver this initiative.

Mandatory

Foreign employees contracted by the following employers:

• All entities subject to DGHR law
• Any Govt. entity to which the decree is extended pursuant to legislation
• Any Govt. entities, or entities receiving support from the Govt. of Dubai, to which the decree is extended pursuant to resolution issued by the Chairman of the Executive Council
• Entities owned or controlled by the Dubai Govt. where the entities have chosen to participate

Voluntary

• Dubai Private Sector Entities
• UAE nationals contracted by any Govt. entities or entities owned or controlled by the Dubai Govt. where a UAE national employee:
  1. has voluntarily chosen to contribute in addition to GPSSA contributions, with employer consent; or
  2. as determined by resolution issued by the Chairman of the Executive Council

Exemptions

• When a foreign employee obtains UAE nationality, their enrolment in the plan becomes voluntary
• Where an employee is serving a notice period at the ‘Effective Date’ i.e. the date at which they are due to be enrolled into the plan
• Where an employee is excluded by legislation or resolution issued by the Chairman of the Executive Council
• Where an employee is entitled to a retirement pension or gratuity in accordance with Federal Law No. 7 of 1999 or any other applicable legislation
• Where a claim has been filed within prescribed limitation periods to recover financial entitlement owed by the employee that is in excess of any accrued gratuity

1. DEWS will provide a digital onboarding link to Government Entities.
2. Once you have submitted your application and we have created your entity, your designated administrator will receive a confirmation email and will be required to complete the set-up tasks which are:
   • Bank details – provide the full bank details for where your contributions will originate from
   • UBO details* (Ultimate Beneficial Owner) – provide us with the details of the individuals or entities that ultimately own your DIFC registered company
3. Your designated authorised signatory will also receive an email with a link to sign the Deed of Participation which is your company’s legal/contractual agreement with the Trustee to participate in DEWS. This must be signed within 48 hours, or the link will expire, and you will have to reach out to us to re-issue this.
4. Please note that the Trustee (Equiom) and Administrator (ZWS) may contact you post-registration requesting additional due diligence documentation – this is standard procedure, and we would kindly request that you provide your cooperation. If you have any doubts as to the legitimacy of any emails received, please feel free to verify with us.
5. If you are responsible for more than one Government entity, you must complete the above steps for each company.

*UBO Details (Ultimate Beneficial Owner)

We would encourage you to consult with your legal/compliance teams, so that you can submit this information accurately. You will need to know:

Whether your company is listed or if your company is a majority owned subsidiary of a listed parent company and, if so, on what exchange

Whether your company is a Government entity or wholly owned by a Government entity and, if so, the legal name of that entity and country of registration

The personal details of all individuals who own or exercise significant control over your company, i.e.

• Individual holding 25% or more of the shares or ownership in the company
• Individual holding 25% or more of voting rights in the company
• Individual holding the right to appoint or remove the majority of the directors of the company
• Individual having significant control or influence over the company
• Your company may have more than one UBO

Eligible employees should only be enrolled into DEWS once they have successfully completed their probation period and one year of continuous employment. At that stage the employer must make the back payment of contributions from the employment start date as a lump sum.

If probation is not successful or the employee does not complete one continuous year of employment, then no payment is due. If the employer makes a payment before an employee is confirmed or completes one year, the employee will still be entitled to receive this.

The process for Government employee enrolment will depend on whether your entity is part of the Government Resources Planning Portal (GRP).

We’ll communicate more on this and conduct training sessions to ensure all employers are fully comfortable with this process.

Once enrolled, employers are required to make mandatory contributions into the plan for all eligible employees. The level of contributions will depend on an employee’s basic salary and their length of service.

The following rates are as per DGHR law and may vary depending on the law or internal regulation/policy that your company is subject to. Rates will also differ for expats during the period of approval to become a UAE national and gaining UAE nationality.

• For employees with less than 5 years’ service, contributions must be paid at a rate of 8.22% of an employee’s basic salary
• For employees with 5-10 years’ service, contributions must be paid at a rate of 12.33% of an employee’s basic salary
• For employees with 10 years’ service or more, contributions must be paid at a rate of 16.44% of an employee’s basic salary

Please refer to the appropriate law for basic salary requirements and definitions.

This amount is payable by the company in addition to salary and should not be deducted from the employee’s salary.

Contributions must be made monthly, and the payment deadline is the 21st day of the month following payroll i.e., if calculating for the July payroll period (1st July to 31st July), contributions must be paid before 21st August. This deadline is for payment to be credited into the trustee bank account and fully reconciled. It is therefore advisable that the contribution file be uploaded before making the payment and that payment be made with sufficient time to make any corrections, if needed.

For simplicity and cost neutrality, the minimum employer contribution rates under DGHR Law have been designed to broadly match minimum accrual rates under the previous end-of-service benefit system i.e., 30, 45 and 60 days as a percentage proportion of a year.