Employment rules · 20 min read · Updated October 2026
Payroll and employment glossary: the region's terms and acronyms in plain words
Plain definitions of the payroll and employment terms used across the Gulf and the wider Middle East and North Africa, grouped by topic: pay, social insurance, wage protection, permits, nationalisation, end of service and employing without an entity.
What do the payroll and employment terms used across the region mean?
Most terms name a scheme, a permit or a system that one country runs. Social insurance runs through GOSI in Saudi Arabia, GPSSA and the Abu Dhabi Pension Fund in the UAE, GRSIA in Qatar, PIFSS in Kuwait, SIO in Bahrain, the Social Protection Fund in Oman and NOSI in Egypt. WPS is how most Gulf countries see wages arrive. End of service is the sum owed when employment ends. Each term is defined below, by topic.
Read the pay and payroll terms in plain words
These terms describe how a month's pay is built, taxed and delivered.
| Term | Where | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Gross-to-net calculation | Every country | The month's working from gross pay to net pay. Each allowance, deduction, contribution and tax is applied in turn |
| Basic pay | Every country | The wage the contract sets, before any allowance. In the UAE, Qatar and Oman, end of service is worked out on it |
| Full wage | Saudi Arabia and Kuwait | Basic pay with the allowances the contract pays, such as housing and transport. Both countries work end of service out on it |
| Housing allowance | The Gulf and Egypt | A monthly sum for housing, paid where the employer does not provide it. Whether social insurance counts it differs by country. Egypt leaves it out |
| Social allowance | Bahrain and Qatar | A monthly allowance some contracts pay beside basic pay. Bahrain works end of service and notice out on basic pay with any social allowance. Qatar counts it for social insurance |
| Contribution salary | Qatar | The pay social insurance is worked out on: basic pay, the social allowance and housing, with housing counted up to a cap |
| Insurable wage | Egypt | The pay social insurance is worked out on, between a floor and a cap that move each January. Transport and housing allowances are left out |
| Salary tax | Egypt and Lebanon | Tax on salaries, withheld by the employer from pay, on bands. In Egypt, it is settled over the whole year |
| Form 4 | Egypt | The quarterly salary tax return to the Egyptian Tax Authority, for the quarter before |
| Income tax on salaries | Jordan, Iraq, Morocco, Algeria and Oman | Tax on salaries, withheld by the employer from pay. In Oman, it is withheld from 1 January 2028, on income above OMR 42,000 a year. Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait and Bahrain have no income tax on salaries |
| IRG | Algeria | Algeria's income tax on salaries, withheld each month on a scale |
| Outsourced payroll | Every country | Payroll where the calculation is run and the files are produced for you: the bank file, the government file, the payslips and the ledger journal. Your own entity still submits the files and pays |
| Ledger journal | Every country | The month's payroll set out as accounting entries, ready to post to your accounts |
| Cut-off | Every country | The last day a month's inputs, such as joiners, leavers and pay changes, can reach payroll and still be in that month's run |
| Parallel run | Every country | A period in which a new payroll runs beside the current one from the same inputs, so every figure can be compared before anything depends on it. Ours runs for two months. Payroll goes live in month three |
| Hijri calendar | Every country | The Islamic calendar, which follows the moon. Ramadan and the Eid holidays follow it, so their dates move through the year. Saudi Arabia's Eids follow the Umm al-Qura calendar |
| Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha | Every country | The two Eids, each a paid holiday. Eid al-Fitr follows Ramadan, in Shawwal. Eid al-Adha falls in Dhu al-Hijjah, after Arafat Day. Each country sets its own days by law or decree |
| Ramadan hours | The Gulf | The shorter working day in Ramadan. Each Gulf country sets its own limit. Some apply it only to Muslim employees |
Each country's payroll guide works a salary through in its own currency.
Follow the terms wage protection uses
Wage protection lets a labour authority see that wages arrived. These terms come with it.
| Term | Where | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| WPS, the Wage Protection System | The UAE, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman | The system through which private-sector wages are paid into each worker's account, through a bank or another licensed institution. The labour authority sees whether they arrived on time and in full |
| The Wage Protection Program | Saudi Arabia | Saudi Arabia's wage protection, run by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development, for every private-sector establishment |
| Mudad | Saudi Arabia | The platform for the Wage Protection Program. Each month, the bank's signed wage file is uploaded to it and matched with GOSI's records |
| Compliance share | Saudi Arabia | The number of workers paid through the programme, against the number registered with GOSI at the establishment. Mudad shows it for each establishment |
| The Kuwait Wage Payment System | Kuwait | Kuwait's national wage payment system, run by the Central Bank of Kuwait, opened in September 2026. The Public Authority for Manpower monitors employers' compliance through it |
| Commitment percentage | Bahrain | The measure the LMRA keeps of each establishment's compliance with WPS. A gap the LMRA accepts as justified stops counting against it |
| Salary file | Every Gulf country | The month's instruction to pay and its record at once. Each line names an employee by a number the authority holds, and the account their pay goes into |
| MOHRE personal number | The UAE | The number MOHRE gives each employee. The WPS salary file names each employee by it |
| IBAN | Every country | The international bank account number of the account a salary goes into. The salary file names it |
| SARIE code | Saudi Arabia | The code of the employee's bank, carried on the salary file where the account is at another Saudi bank |
| SWIFT code | Oman | The code of the employee's bank, carried on Oman's salary file with the account number or IBAN |
| BENEFIT | Bahrain | Bahrain's network for electronic payments. The salary file passes through it to the bank |
| The Expat Management System | Bahrain | The LMRA's system. Its WPS portal is where the salary file is uploaded and approved, and work permits are cancelled through it |
Egypt has no wage protection system. The guide to wage protection in the Gulf sets out what each authority checks, and the guide to the salary file what each file carries.
Recognise each permit, card, platform and place
An expatriate's permits decide whether they can be paid at all. A Gulf salary file names each employee by the number on their card. In the UAE, where a business is licensed decides who issues the permits.
| Term | Where | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Work permit | Every country | The authority's permission for a foreign national to work. Each country's hiring guide sets out how it is issued |
| Residence permit, or residence visa | Every country | The permission to live in the country, issued with or after the work permit. It is closed when the person leaves, unless they move to a new employer there |
| Transfer | Most Gulf countries | A move to a new employer in the same country, without leaving it, in place of a new hire from abroad. In Saudi Arabia, it is made on Qiwa |
| Iqama | Saudi Arabia | The residence permit, issued once the person is in the Kingdom. The salary file names an expatriate by its number |
| Qiwa | Saudi Arabia | The labour ministry's platform. Work visas are applied for, contracts documented and transfers made on it |
| Final exit visa | Saudi Arabia | The visa an expatriate leaves the Kingdom on for good, issued through Absher Business. The Iqama is then destroyed |
| Ajeer | Saudi Arabia | A permit for an employee to work at another establishment's site, such as a client's |
| Work-permit levy | Saudi Arabia | A monthly charge the employer pays for each expatriate. Its rate depends on whether non-Saudi nationals outnumber Saudi nationals in the establishment |
| MOHRE, the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation | The UAE | The UAE's labour ministry. It issues work permits on the mainland, registers contracts and runs WPS |
| ICP, the Federal Authority for Identity, Citizenship, Customs and Port Security | The UAE | Issues entry permits and residence visas, except in Dubai |
| GDRFA, the General Directorate of Identity and Foreigners Affairs | Dubai | Issues entry permits and residence visas in Dubai |
| Emirates ID | The UAE | The identity card, issued to an expatriate with the residence visa. GPSSA registers an Emirati national with it |
| Grace period | The UAE | The time a person may stay in the UAE after the residence visa is cancelled, to leave or to take up new residence |
| Mainland | The UAE | Where a business is licensed outside the free zones. Its establishments are registered with MOHRE, and the federal Labour Law applies |
| Free zone | The UAE | An area with its own authority, through which employees' work permits and residence visas are applied for. Its own employment regulations sit beside the federal Labour Law |
| DIFC, the Dubai International Financial Centre | Dubai | A financial free zone with an employment law of its own. It sits outside WPS, and DEWS replaces the gratuity there |
| ADGM, Abu Dhabi Global Market | Abu Dhabi | A financial free zone with employment regulations of its own. It sits outside WPS, and keeps a gratuity of its own with no cap |
| Golden visa | The UAE | A long-term residence visa whose holder needs no sponsor. To work for you, they still need a MOHRE work permit, issued for that case |
| QID | Qatar | The card that carries an expatriate's residence permit, issued by the Ministry of Interior after arrival. The WPS salary file names each employee by its number |
| The Public Authority for Manpower | Kuwait | Issues work permits, and receives the payroll list with each month's wages |
| Civil ID card | Kuwait | Issued by the Public Authority for Civil Information once residence is granted. Its number is the ID payroll holds |
| LMRA, the Labour Market Regulatory Authority | Bahrain | Issues work permits and runs WPS |
| CPR card | Bahrain | The identity card, issued to an expatriate after the residence permit. The salary file names each employee by its number |
| Labour authorisation | Oman | The Ministry of Labour's approval to recruit a non-Omani national for a role, where no Omani with the skills is available. The person's work permit follows it |
| Resident card | Oman | The card the Royal Oman Police issues to an expatriate. Its number is the ID payroll holds |
| Work licence | Egypt | The Ministry of Labour's licence for a foreign national to work in Egypt |
| ANAPEC | Morocco | The national employment agency. It issues a certificate for a foreign hire, once the job has been advertised in the press |
| Medical fitness test | Every Gulf country | The examination an expatriate passes before their residence is issued |
| Attestation | Every Gulf country | The official certification of a document, such as an educational certificate, that the permit steps ask for |
| PRO, public relations officer | Every Gulf country | The person who handles a company's dealings with government offices, such as the permit steps |
Each country's hiring guide sets out the permit steps in order. The guide to UAE free zones and the mainland sets out what each place changes in payroll.
Know what each nationalisation programme asks of you
Each Gulf country sets rules on employing its own nationals. They decide whether a permit can be issued, and some reach the payroll.
| Term | Where | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Saudization | Saudi Arabia | Saudi Arabia's rules on employing Saudi nationals. Each establishment's Saudi share is measured, and some roles are reserved for Saudi nationals. Whether a Saudi national counts turns on their pay for GOSI |
| Nitaqat | Saudi Arabia | The programme that places each establishment in one of five bands, set by its Saudi share: Red, Low Green, Medium Green, High Green and Platinum. The band decides its access to work visas, transfers and work permits |
| Emiratisation | The UAE | Targets for employing Emirati nationals in the private sector: a share of skilled jobs for larger companies, and a number of Emirati nationals for some smaller ones. A contribution is due for each place left unfilled |
| Nafis, the Emirati Talent Competitiveness Council | The UAE | Supports Emirati nationals in private-sector jobs. Salary support is among its programmes |
| Qatarisation | Qatar | Qatar's priority for Qatari nationals in employment. A work permit for a non-Qatari national is granted only where no qualified Qatari is registered with the Ministry of Labour for the job |
| Kuwaitisation | Kuwait | A programme employers plan for. The government sets the share of Kuwaiti staff by sector |
| Bahrainisation | Bahrain | Each business activity carries a minimum share of Bahraini staff. The LMRA's calculator shows whether a company meets it |
| Omanisation | Oman | Each sector's percentages of Omani staff, set by ministerial decision. A company that misses them cannot get new labour authorisations |
| Reserved jobs | Saudi Arabia, Oman, Jordan and Lebanon | Jobs or professions the law keeps for nationals, closed to foreign workers |
The Emiratisation guide sets out the UAE's targets, deadlines and what counts.
Read the end of service terms the way each law uses them
End of service goes by several names, and each law builds it differently.
| Term | Where | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| End of service | Every Gulf country | A sum owed when employment ends, built up with each year worked. Each country decides who builds it up, which pay it is worked on and how much each year earns |
| Gratuity | The UAE, Qatar and Oman | End of service, where the law calls it a gratuity. It is worked out on basic pay. In the UAE and Oman, an expatriate from outside the GCC builds it up. In Qatar, every employee with a year's service does |
| End of service in Saudi Arabia | Saudi Arabia | Owed to every employee, Saudi nationals included, on the last full wage. An employee who resigns keeps a share that rises with service |
| End-of-service pay | Kuwait | Owed to every employee, Kuwaiti nationals included, on the full wage. An employee who resigns from an open-ended contract keeps a share that rises with service |
| End of service through SIO | Bahrain | Since 1 March 2024, the employer pays each expatriate's end of service into SIO every month, and SIO pays it when employment ends |
| The Savings Scheme | The UAE | MOHRE's optional scheme. An employer that joins pays a monthly contribution on basic pay into an investment fund, in place of the gratuity, on the mainland or in a free zone |
| DEWS, DIFC Employee Workplace Savings | The UAE, in the DIFC | The DIFC's workplace savings plan. Since 1 February 2020, the employer has paid into it, or another qualifying scheme, every month in place of the gratuity. An Emirati national or other Gulf national registered with GPSSA is outside it, as are a few others the law exempts |
| End of service reward | Egypt | A social insurance branch the employer and the employee both pay into, held in a personal account. In Egypt, social insurance provides end of service for insured service |
| The end-of-service branch | Lebanon | The NSSF branch through which end of service is paid, from the employer's monthly contributions. A law replacing it with a pension has been passed. The branch carries on until the decrees that put the pension in place are issued |
| Notice allowance | The UAE | The wage for the notice not given, owed by the side that does not give the notice the contract sets |
| Trial period | Every country | A period at the start of employment that lets either side test the fit. Each country sets how long it can run, and how a contract ends during it |
| Final settlement | Every country | Everything owed when employment ends: the final wages, unused leave, end of service and any notice allowance, paid by the law's deadline |
| Certificate of service | Every Gulf country | A document the employer gives a leaver, setting out their service: the dates, the job and the wage. Most Gulf laws make it free on request |
| The journey home | The Gulf and Egypt | The employer pays an expatriate's journey home when employment ends, with the exceptions each country's law sets |
The guide to end of service in the Gulf and Egypt compares each country's rule side by side. The guide to end of service paid monthly sets out the schemes that replace the gratuity.
Tell the routes to employing people apart
Payroll runs for a company whose own entity employs its people. These terms cover the other routes.
| Term | Where | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Entity | Every country | A company or branch registered in a country, able to hold employment contracts and register with the authorities there. Opening one takes months |
| Employer of record | Every country | A way of employing people in a country where your company has no entity of its own. You choose the person, the role and the salary. The employment is put in place under that country's law. Global Kinect EOR covers 55 countries across the Middle East and Africa |
| PEO | Every country | For a company whose own entity employs its people, but which would rather someone paid them and handled the filings. People are paid every month in their local currency. Their benefits and statutory obligations are handled and filed. With us, it is part of Global Kinect EOR |
| Contractor | Every country | Someone engaged for work under a contract rather than employed. Each country's hiring guide sets out the test that tells the two apart. A role that needs a work permit goes through employer of record |
| Freelance work permit | The UAE | A MOHRE permit for someone working for themselves, providing a service without being anyone's employee. Work done under your supervision and direction, for a wage, is employment |
The guide to payroll or employer of record sets out which route fits which need.
Keep the facts behind each term on one record
Most of these terms end up as a field on an employee's record or a line in a month's file: an Iqama or QID number, the date a Saudi national first joined GOSI, a social allowance, an Emirati national's pension scheme. A payroll fed from several places holds each of them more than once, and the copies drift apart.
On our payroll, each comes from one record. In the six Gulf countries and Egypt, each country runs on an engine we build and maintain for its law. Our engines absorb a rule change before your next run. You are told what changed and what it does to your figures.
Your entity submits each file and pays its people.
Common questions.
What is the difference between end of service and a gratuity?
None in substance. End of service is the general term for the sum owed when employment ends. The UAE, Qatar and Oman call it a gratuity, and work it out on basic pay. Saudi Arabia and Kuwait work it out on the full wage.
Is WPS the same in every Gulf country?
No. The UAE, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman each run a WPS of their own. Saudi Arabia runs its Wage Protection Program on Mudad, and Kuwait its national wage payment system. Each checks pay against a rule of its own.
Which social insurance scheme covers a national of another Gulf country?
Their own country's, wherever in the Gulf they work. You register them through the agency of the country where they work, at their home country's rates.
Running payroll in the region? Book a Demo. Hiring without an entity? Get an EOR quote.
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