ERPNext WPS Payroll in the UAE: SIF Files, Gratuity & Arabic-English Payslips

ERPNext WPS payroll in the UAE works well, with one caveat. ERPNext and Frappe HR calculate salaries, allowances, deductions and gratuity accurately, but they do not ship a ready-made WPS Salary Information File (SIF) export. That file, plus a gratuity rule that matches current UAE law, is what a UAE payroll setup must add.

This guide covers the 2026 MOHRE wage rules, how to produce SIF files from ERPNext, how to set up end-of-service gratuity correctly, and how to print Arabic-English payslips.

Who this is for: HR managers, payroll officers and finance heads of private-sector companies in the UAE (Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and the northern emirates) with roughly 20 to 500 employees, who run or plan to run payroll in ERPNext. Also serving Saudi Arabia (Riyadh, Jeddah), Qatar (Doha), Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman (Muscat).

UAE WPS rules in 2026: what changed

The Wage Protection System (WPS) is the electronic salary transfer system developed by the UAE Central Bank. It lets the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation (MOHRE) monitor whether private-sector wages are paid in full and on time. Salaries go through banks, exchange houses or financial institutions authorised by the Central Bank.

Ministerial Resolution No. 340 of 2026, effective 1 June 2026, replaced Resolution No. 598 of 2022. The key points, from the UAE government page on payment of wages:

• One due date: wages for the previous month are due on the first day of each Gregorian month. Payment after that date counts as late.
• 85% threshold: employers must transfer at least 85% of the total wages due on time (where lawful deductions apply).
• Currency: wages can be paid in dirhams, or another currency if the employment contract says so.

Penalties for late salary payment

When	What MOHRE does
From the due date	Electronic monitoring of the establishment until payment is proven
From day 2	Notifications and alerts to pay
Day 5	New work permits suspended, with a warning to the owner
Day 11	Administrative fine and reclassification to the Third Category, for repeat violations within six months
Day 16	Automatic labour dispute and work-permit suspension, for establishments with 25 or more workers (and certain sectors)
Day 21	Executive instrument or collective dispute, precautionary attachment, travel ban on the person in charge, and referral to the Public Prosecution in specified repeat cases

What this means for payroll: your monthly cycle (attendance cut-off, approvals, salary slips, SIF upload and bank transfer) must finish before the 1st. Many companies now close attendance around the 25th and post salaries in the last days of the month.

How ERPNext WPS payroll in the UAE works in Frappe HR

Payroll lives in Frappe HR, which installs alongside ERPNext. A typical UAE setup uses:

ERPNext / Frappe HR feature	UAE use
Salary components	Basic, housing, transport and other allowances; overtime; deductions such as advances and unpaid leave
Salary structures and assignments	Grade-wise packages, with basic kept separate because gratuity is calculated on it
Attendance and leave	Shift-based attendance, biometric integration, annual and unpaid leave
Payroll entry	Monthly batch that creates salary slips for all employees and posts the accounting entry
Gratuity and gratuity rules	End-of-service calculation from service length and applicable salary components
Employee advances and loans	Recovery through salary deductions

Our ERPNext HR and payroll page shows these modules, and our guide to employee and payroll management with ERPNext walks through the screens. For attendance from biometric devices, see ERPNext attendance automation with biometric integration.

Generating the WPS SIF file from ERPNext

Under WPS, your bank or exchange house receives a Salary Information File (SIF) listing each employee's pay plus an employer summary, in the format that agent specifies. Standard ERPNext and Frappe HR do not include a SIF generator. A community attempt to add one to ERPNext in 2021 was closed without being merged.

In practice, a UAE implementation adds a small custom report or app that:

1. Stores the extra employee fields the file needs, such as the MOHRE person or labour card identifier, the bank routing code and IBAN.
2. Stores employer details such as the establishment ID with MOHRE.
3. Reads submitted salary slips for the month, splitting fixed and variable pay and leave days as your agent requires.
4. Exports the file in your agent's exact layout and naming, ready to upload.

Because each bank or exchange house can have its own template, get its latest SIF specification before development and test with a pilot month. This is typical ERPNext customisation work, and it should be covered by your support plan after each upgrade.

UAE gratuity calculation in ERPNext (Article 51)

Under Article 51 of Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021, a full-time foreign worker who has completed at least one year of continuous service is entitled to end-of-service gratuity based on the last basic wage:

• 21 days' wage for each of the first five years of service.
• 30 days' wage for each year after that.
• Part years count in proportion, once one year is complete.
• Unpaid absence days are not counted as service.
• Total gratuity cannot exceed two years' wage.

Allowances such as housing and transport are not included, according to the UAE government guide to end-of-service benefits. UAE nationals follow pension and social security rules instead.

A worked example

Daily basic wage is commonly taken as monthly basic ÷ 30. For a basic salary of AED 6,000, the daily wage is AED 200:

Service	Calculation	Gratuity
3 years 6 months	3.5 × 21 × AED 200	AED 14,700
7 years	(5 × 21 × 200) + (2 × 30 × 200)	AED 33,000

Check the bundled UAE gratuity rules

Frappe HR sets up three UAE gratuity rules: one for limited contracts and two for unlimited contracts (termination and resignation). The resignation rule pays a third or two thirds of gratuity for shorter service, and the rules count only exact completed years.

That logic reflects the older UAE labour law. Article 51 of the current law has no such resignation reductions and counts part years.

Also, the Gratuity Rule doctype has no field for the two-year cap. Before you use these rules, ask your partner to create an Article 51 rule, link only basic pay as the applicable component, handle part years and the cap, and test it on real leavers. Employers in the DIFC and ADGM free zones follow their own employment rules, so check those separately.

The voluntary savings scheme alternative

MOHRE also runs an optional alternative end-of-service scheme, where employers pay monthly contributions into approved investment funds. Published rates are 5.83% of monthly basic salary for employees with under five years of service and 8.33% after five years. If you join, model these as monthly payroll contributions in ERPNext instead of a lump-sum gratuity.

Arabic-English payslips in ERPNext

ERPNext supports Arabic, including a right-to-left layout. For payslips, most UAE companies want both languages on one page:

• A bilingual print format for the salary slip, with English on the left and Arabic on the right, built in Jinja.
• Arabic names for employees and salary components, stored in custom fields.
• Company letterhead in both languages, and amounts in AED with the right number format.
• Password-protected PDF payslips emailed to employees, or self-service access through the employee portal.

Bilingual offer letters, experience certificates and final settlement statements can use the same approach.

Implementation checklist for UAE payroll in ERPNext

1. Confirm your WPS agent (bank or exchange house) and get its SIF specification.
2. Design salary components with basic separate from allowances.
3. Load employee identifiers, bank details and joining dates accurately.
4. Create and test an Article 51 gratuity rule, including part years, unpaid leave and the cap.
5. Build the SIF export and bilingual payslip, then run a parallel month.
6. Fix your calendar so salaries are paid before the 1st.

A mid-sized ERPNext go-live usually takes 2–3 months at Nexeves, depending on scope. See our ERPNext implementation cost guide for typical pricing, and our guide to ERPNext hosting cost if you are choosing where to host. Clinics and hospitals in the UAE may also find our guide to hospital management software on ERPNext useful.

Payroll for Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman

This guide focuses on the UAE. Each GCC country sets its own labour law, wage-protection and end-of-service rules, so we configure salary components, gratuity rules and bank files per country rather than copying the UAE setup. Groups with entities in several GCC countries can run them as separate companies in one ERPNext system.

Frequently asked questions

Does ERPNext support WPS payroll in the UAE?

Yes, with a small customisation. ERPNext and Frappe HR handle salary structures, allowances, attendance, deductions and gratuity, but they do not include a ready-made WPS Salary Information File export. A custom report or app generates the SIF in your bank or exchange house format from submitted salary slips.

When must UAE private-sector salaries be paid under WPS in 2026?

Under MOHRE Ministerial Resolution No. 340 of 2026, effective 1 June 2026, wages for the previous month are due on the first day of each Gregorian month. Employers must transfer at least 85% of total wages due on time, and alerts start from the second day after the due date.

How is UAE gratuity calculated?

For full-time foreign workers with at least one year of continuous service, gratuity is 21 days of last basic wage per year for the first five years and 30 days per year after that. Part years count proportionally, unpaid absence is excluded and the total cannot exceed two years' wage, under Article 51.

Are allowances included in UAE gratuity?

No. According to the UAE government's guidance, end-of-service gratuity is calculated on the last basic salary and does not include allowances such as housing, transport, utilities or furniture. In ERPNext, link only the basic salary component to your gratuity rule so allowances are excluded automatically.

Can ERPNext print Arabic and English payslips?

Yes. ERPNext supports Arabic with a right-to-left layout, and a custom Jinja print format can show English and Arabic side by side on one salary slip. Arabic employee and component names are stored in custom fields, and PDF payslips can be emailed or shared through the employee portal.

Can one ERPNext system run payroll for the UAE and other GCC countries?

Yes. You can set up each country as a separate company in one ERPNext system, with its own salary components, gratuity rules and bank files. Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman each have their own labour and wage-protection rules, so each country is configured on its own terms.