The Dubai International Financial Centre’s workplace savings programme has signed up 19,182 employees from 1,187 companies since it was launched a year ago.
The DIFC Employee Workplace Savings plan built up more than $127 million worth of assets under management as of February 1, 2021, the free zone said on Tuesday.
Launched in February last year for employees based in the DIFC, the Dews plan restructured the gratuity benefit system and requires employers in the free zone to make monthly contributions to a managed investment programme.
A substantial number of employees also chose to make additional voluntary contributions to the Dews plan.
The free zone is the first body in the UAE to overhaul the gratuity system – a defined end-of-service benefit that all expatriate employees are entitled to after completing at least one year of service.
“DIFC is proud to have created the region’s first employee savings scheme and delighted with the high levels of uptake by our clients and workforce,” said Arif Amiri, chief executive of DIFC Authority.
The Dews programme ensures the liability moves from an unfunded to a funded benefit, which is taken off a company’s balance sheet and placed in a trust-based structure.
Equiom is the master trustee of the Dews programme while Zurich Workplace Solutions is the plan administrator and global consultancy Mercer is the investment adviser.
Dews requires employers to contribute an amount equal to 5.83 per cent or 8.33 per cent of an employee’s wage, depending on their length of service, on a monthly basis to a fund administered by a trust.
“The Dews scheme has successfully turned an unfunded liability into a recognisable and secure benefit,” said Reena Vivek, senior executive officer at Zurich Workplace Solutions.
“The growing number of employees making voluntary contributions into the plan is a sign of the positive impact Dews has had in encouraging regular savings.”
Employees can choose from five risk-profiled funds: low, low to moderate, moderate, moderate to high and high. There is also a Sharia-compliant option available.
At the end of January, 75 per cent of the plan’s assets were invested in the low-to-moderate growth fund while about a fifth of assets were split across other funds.
“Dews aims to address a key issue with the end-of-service benefit system in the Middle East where employers are not obliged to fund their end-of-service liability externally,” said Chris Cain, Middle East client services director at Equiom.
Most companies tend to make EoS payments from their cashflow, meaning that employees are not protected against employer insolvency
“Most companies, therefore, tend to make end-of-service payments from their cash flow, meaning that employees are not protected against employer insolvency.
“Dews has addressed this issue and as part of the scheme, once funds are paid on behalf of employees, the sum is ring-fenced and is no longer a liability of the employer, making it safer for employees,” he said.
About 75 per cent of companies in the UAE do not set aside specific assets for end-of-service benefits, according to a 2019 survey by Zurich.
About 80 per cent of those polled, which included chief financial officers and finance managers, said a mandatory funding requirement would be a good decision.
Other acts on the Jazz Garden bill
Sharrie Williams
The American singer is hugely respected in blues circles due to her passionate vocals and songwriting. Born and raised in Michigan, Williams began recording and touring as a teenage gospel singer. Her career took off with the blues band The Wiseguys. Such was the acclaim of their live shows that they toured throughout Europe and in Africa. As a solo artist, Williams has also collaborated with the likes of the late Dizzy Gillespie, Van Morrison and Mavis Staples.
Lin Rountree
An accomplished smooth jazz artist who blends his chilled approach with R‘n’B. Trained at the Duke Ellington School of the Arts in Washington, DC, Rountree formed his own band in 2004. He has also recorded with the likes of Kem, Dwele and Conya Doss. He comes to Dubai on the back of his new single Pass The Groove, from his forthcoming 2018 album Stronger Still, which may follow his five previous solo albums in cracking the top 10 of the US jazz charts.
Anita Williams
Dubai-based singer Anita Williams will open the night with a set of covers and swing, jazz and blues standards that made her an in-demand singer across the emirate. The Irish singer has been performing in Dubai since 2008 at venues such as MusicHall and Voda Bar. Her Jazz Garden appearance is career highlight as she will use the event to perform the original song Big Blue Eyes, the single from her debut solo album, due for release soon.
Company%20profile
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Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
The National Archives, Abu Dhabi
Founded over 50 years ago, the National Archives collects valuable historical material relating to the UAE, and is the oldest and richest archive relating to the Arabian Gulf.
Much of the material can be viewed on line at the Arabian Gulf Digital Archive - https://www.agda.ae/en
The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
'Munich: The Edge of War'
Director: Christian Schwochow
Starring: George MacKay, Jannis Niewohner, Jeremy Irons
Rating: 3/5
The five pillars of Islam
Labour dispute
The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.
- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law
Red flags
- Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
- Unregulated structured products or complex investments often used to bypass traditional safeguards.
- Lack of clear information, vague language, no access to audited financials.
- Overseas companies targeting investors in other jurisdictions - this can make legal recovery difficult.
- Hard-selling tactics - creating urgency, offering 'exclusive' deals.
Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
The specs
Engine: 3.8-litre, twin-turbo V8
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Power: 582bhp
Torque: 730Nm
Price: Dh649,000
On sale: now
Other must-tries
Tomato and walnut salad
A lesson in simple, seasonal eating. Wedges of tomato, chunks of cucumber, thinly sliced red onion, coriander or parsley leaves, and perhaps some fresh dill are drizzled with a crushed walnut and garlic dressing. Do consider yourself warned: if you eat this salad in Georgia during the summer months, the tomatoes will be so ripe and flavourful that every tomato you eat from that day forth will taste lacklustre in comparison.
Badrijani nigvzit
A delicious vegetarian snack or starter. It consists of thinly sliced, fried then cooled aubergine smothered with a thick and creamy walnut sauce and folded or rolled. Take note, even though it seems like you should be able to pick these morsels up with your hands, they’re not as durable as they look. A knife and fork is the way to go.
Pkhali
This healthy little dish (a nice antidote to the khachapuri) is usually made with steamed then chopped cabbage, spinach, beetroot or green beans, combined with walnuts, garlic and herbs to make a vegetable pâté or paste. The mix is then often formed into rounds, chilled in the fridge and topped with pomegranate seeds before being served.
Dubai works towards better air quality by 2021
Dubai is on a mission to record good air quality for 90 per cent of the year – up from 86 per cent annually today – by 2021.
The municipality plans to have seven mobile air-monitoring stations by 2020 to capture more accurate data in hourly and daily trends of pollution.
These will be on the Palm Jumeirah, Al Qusais, Muhaisnah, Rashidiyah, Al Wasl, Al Quoz and Dubai Investment Park.
“It will allow real-time responding for emergency cases,” said Khaldoon Al Daraji, first environment safety officer at the municipality.
“We’re in a good position except for the cases that are out of our hands, such as sandstorms.
“Sandstorms are our main concern because the UAE is just a receiver.
“The hotspots are Iran, Saudi Arabia and southern Iraq, but we’re working hard with the region to reduce the cycle of sandstorm generation.”
Mr Al Daraji said monitoring as it stood covered 47 per cent of Dubai.
There are 12 fixed stations in the emirate, but Dubai also receives information from monitors belonging to other entities.
“There are 25 stations in total,” Mr Al Daraji said.
“We added new technology and equipment used for the first time for the detection of heavy metals.
“A hundred parameters can be detected but we want to expand it to make sure that the data captured can allow a baseline study in some areas to ensure they are well positioned.”
