Adnoc’s move follows the Executive Council’s December 31 decision to issue a new salary scale for all Abu Dhabi government employees. Victor Besa / The National
Adnoc’s move follows the Executive Council’s December 31 decision to issue a new salary scale for all Abu Dhabi government employees. Victor Besa / The National
Adnoc’s move follows the Executive Council’s December 31 decision to issue a new salary scale for all Abu Dhabi government employees. Victor Besa / The National
Adnoc’s move follows the Executive Council’s December 31 decision to issue a new salary scale for all Abu Dhabi government employees. Victor Besa / The National

Economy

Adnoc to spend Dh14bn to boost employee pensions

The company started calculating pensions on 80 per cent of staff members' gross salary from January 1

Sarmad Khan
Sarmad Khan
Abu Dhabi

January 07, 2020

  • English
  • Arabic

Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, the state-controlled energy producer, is setting aside Dh14 billion in backdated costs as it prepares to boost pension packages for its 24,000 Emirati employees.

Adnoc started calculating employee pensions based on 80 per cent of their gross salaries at the start of the month, increasing what they receive by 20 per cent, the Abu Dhabi Government Media Office said in a tweet. The company, among the biggest state-owned employers in the country, has also signed an agreement with the Abu Dhabi Pension Fund on Tuesday, overseen by Sheikh Khalid bin Mohamed bin Zayed, a member of the Executive Council and chairman of Abu Dhabi Executive Office, the media office said.

“Adnoc’s newly calculated retirement pensions will allow its employees to enjoy bigger retirement pensions and a better quality of life, while positioning Adnoc as a desirable workplace for skilled UAE talent,” a separate tweet said.

The backdated expense will be covered by Adnoc, “removing any financial burden” for its employees as a “gesture of appreciation for their efforts and dedication”.

Adnoc's announcement follows the Executive Council's December 31 decision to issue a new salary scale for all Abu Dhabi government employees, which also included plans to increase retirement pensions "significantly".

The government unified and consolidated all salaries and allowances for employees in Abu Dhabi civil government entities from January 1. The new scheme factors in all grades of employment, according to a media office tweet at the time.

“The new salary scale aims to increase retirement pensions, ensure parity across government entities and improve performance,” according to the directive, which also said employees’ gross salaries will not be affected by the new move and that new “motivating incentives” will be introduced “to attract and reward outstanding talent”.

Previously, repayments were calculated only on basic salary and the changes will help achieve excellence in government performance, in line with “the leadership’s wishes to enhance liveability standards for UAE nationals during and after their civil service careers”, the media office said in a separate statement, carried by state news agency Wam at the time.

By unifying the salary scale, grading systems and allowances across all government entities, the Executive Council said it hopes to "achieve equality and fairness, while enhancing competitiveness within the government sector".

Notable salonnières of the Middle East through history

Al Khasan (Okaz, Saudi Arabia)

Tamadir bint Amr Al Harith, known simply as Al Khasan, was a poet from Najd famed for elegies, earning great renown for the eulogy of her brothers Mu’awiyah and Sakhr, both killed in tribal wars. Although not a salonnière, this prestigious 7th century poet fostered a culture of literary criticism and could be found standing in the souq of Okaz and reciting her poetry, publicly pronouncing her views and inviting others to join in the debate on scholarship. She later converted to Islam.

 

Maryana Marrash (Aleppo)

A poet and writer, Marrash helped revive the tradition of the salon and was an active part of the Nadha movement, or Arab Renaissance. Born to an established family in Aleppo in Ottoman Syria in 1848, Marrash was educated at missionary schools in Aleppo and Beirut at a time when many women did not receive an education. After touring Europe, she began to host salons where writers played chess and cards, competed in the art of poetry, and discussed literature and politics. An accomplished singer and canon player, music and dancing were a part of these evenings.

 

Princess Nazil Fadil (Cairo)

Princess Nazil Fadil gathered religious, literary and political elite together at her Cairo palace, although she stopped short of inviting women. The princess, a niece of Khedive Ismail, believed that Egypt’s situation could only be solved through education and she donated her own property to help fund the first modern Egyptian University in Cairo.

 

Mayy Ziyadah (Cairo)

Ziyadah was the first to entertain both men and women at her Cairo salon, founded in 1913. The writer, poet, public speaker and critic, her writing explored language, religious identity, language, nationalism and hierarchy. Born in Nazareth, Palestine, to a Lebanese father and Palestinian mother, her salon was open to different social classes and earned comparisons with souq of where Al Khansa herself once recited.

Economy