Salary is due on the 1st of the month.
You are late from the 2nd. There is no grace period.
At least 85 percent of your total salary bill must arrive on time. If it does not, you are marked as late, even if most people were paid.
That is the short version. Below is what it means for a brokerage, in plain words.
Every rule here comes from the UAE Government page on paying wages. Where that page does not answer something, this article says so.
What is WPS?
WPS stands for Wage Protection System. It is a way of paying salaries so the government can see that you paid them.
The UAE Central Bank built it. The Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation, or MOHRE, uses it to check that companies pay staff in full and on time.
You pay through a bank, an exchange house, or another company that the Central Bank has approved. The payment leaves a record. MOHRE checks that record.
Cash in hand does not count. A personal transfer does not count.
The main law is Ministerial Resolution No. 340 of 2026. Two older rules also apply: Cabinet Resolution No. 21 of 2020 and Ministerial Resolution No. 209 of 2022.
Does it apply to my brokerage?
Yes.
Every company registered with MOHRE has to pay staff through WPS. Only four kinds of company are excused:
- UAE nationals who own fishing boats
- UAE nationals who own public taxis
- Banks and financial companies
- Places of worship
A real estate brokerage is not on that list. If your agents are on your MOHRE work permits, you are in the system.
When is salary due?
Salary for last month is due on the 1st day of each month.
Not the 5th. Not the 7th. Not when a deal finally registers. The 1st.
You are counted as late from day 2.
What is the 85 percent rule?
This is the rule most people miss. The official wording is:
> Employers must transfer at least 85 per cent of the total wages due to their employees on time (where lawful deductions apply).
Here is the important part. It counts your whole team together, not each person separately.
So you can pay most of your staff on time and still fail.
An example. You have 30 staff. You pay 24 on time and hold 6 back until a commission clears. That is 80 percent. You are below the line, even though 24 people were paid correctly.
So work out one number and keep it somewhere you can see: 85 percent of your monthly salary bill.
What happens if I pay late?
It gets worse step by step, and it moves fast.
- Day 2. You get warning messages and alerts.
- Day 5. You cannot get new work permits. So you cannot hire.
- Day 11. You get fines, and your company is moved to a lower grade.
- Day 16. A labour case is opened. If you have 25 staff or more, your work permits are suspended.
- Day 21. The government can force the payment, freeze your money, stop you leaving the country, and send the case to the Public Prosecution.
Look at day 5. Before any fine, you lose the ability to hire. For a brokerage that is growing, that is the one that costs you most.
What about agents paid on commission?
Almost every brokerage in Dubai pays a small basic salary plus commission. So this is the first question owners ask.
The official page does not answer it. It says nothing about commission, bonuses, or pay that changes month to month. It only covers wages, the due date, the 85 percent rule, and the penalties.
What we do know is who is excused. Seven kinds of worker sit outside WPS:
- Someone whose pay complaint has gone to the courts
- Someone reported as having left the job without notice
- Someone held by order of a court or authority
- Someone on unpaid leave, if you have sent the papers to MOHRE
- Sailors working on ships, if the company asks for it
- Staff of foreign companies who are paid outside the UAE
- Workers on a short mission permit of three months or less
"Paid on commission" is not on that list. So an agent on your work permit is inside WPS, whatever their pay looks like.
How your own contracts should appear in the file is a question for MOHRE or a labour lawyer who can read them. Anyone who gives you a firm answer without reading your contracts does not know.
What should I do each month?
Five simple habits:
- Put the 1st in the calendar, not the 5th. Then count backwards. If your bank needs two working days, the file must be ready before the month ends.
- Know your 85 percent number. Work it out once, as a figure. Do not try to calculate it on the day.
- Keep basic salary and commission separate. The basic salary has a legal date. The commission payout is your own choice.
- Never let a slow deal decide payroll. If a deal has not registered, that is a cash problem to solve another way. It is not a reason to hold someone's salary.
- Keep the paperwork for anyone excused. Unpaid leave only counts if the documents are with MOHRE. Without them, that person still counts.
One more thing worth knowing. Resale deals in Dubai fell sharply this year. Slower closings are something to plan for now, not a surprise later.
How software helps, and what it cannot do
No system pays your staff for you. If the money is not there, no software fixes that.
What it can fix is the two things that cause most late payments: the numbers sitting in different places, and nobody owning the date.
COM8 Realty keeps HR and payroll in the same account as the deals:
- Payroll is prepared, approved and exported in a WPS ready format
- Attendance, leave, onboarding and documents sit on the same staff record
- Commission is worked out on the closed deal, with splits, referrer shares, holdbacks and VAT
- The commission payout runs from the same place
So the commission number and the payroll number come from one system. Nobody has to check a spreadsheet against a bank file on the last day of the month.
HR and payroll are on the Brokerage Plus plan at AED 149 per seat per month.
To be clear about the limits: it does not send anything to MOHRE for you, and it is not linked to the Central Bank. Preparing the file is where software helps. Sending it, and having the money ready, is still your job.
Common questions
Does WPS apply to agents paid only on commission?
Yes. An agent on your MOHRE work permit is inside WPS. Commission-only is not one of the seven kinds of worker who are excused. Those cover things like unpaid leave with papers filed, staff reported as having left the job, and short mission permits of three months or less. The official page does not explain how commission itself should appear in the file, so check your own contracts with MOHRE or a labour lawyer.
When is salary due in the UAE?
Salary for the previous month is due on the 1st day of each month. You are counted as late from day 2. There is no grace period of a week or two.
What is the WPS 85 percent rule?
You must transfer at least 85 percent of the total wages due to staff on time. It counts your whole team together, not each person separately. So paying most of the team on time while holding a few back can still put you below the limit.
What are the penalties for paying late?
They grow by the day. Alerts on day 2. No new work permits from day 5. Fines and a lower company grade from day 11. A labour case from day 16, with work permits suspended if you have 25 staff or more. From day 21 the government can force payment, freeze money, stop you leaving the country, and refer the case to the Public Prosecution.
Is a real estate brokerage excused from WPS?
No. Only four kinds of company are excused: UAE nationals who own fishing boats, UAE nationals who own public taxis, banks and financial companies, and places of worship. Brokerages are not among them.
How must salaries be paid under WPS?
Through a bank, an exchange house, or another provider approved by the Central Bank of the UAE. Cash or a personal transfer does not create the record MOHRE checks.
Which law covers WPS?
The main one is Ministerial Resolution No. 340 of 2026. Cabinet Resolution No. 21 of 2020 and Ministerial Resolution No. 209 of 2022 also apply.
Can payroll software send the WPS file for me?
Software can prepare and export a WPS ready file and hold the staff records behind it. Sending it goes through your bank or an approved exchange house, and the money has to be there. Be careful with any vendor that suggests it sends the file for you, or that it guarantees you will pass.