The GCC HR glossary
Plain-language definitions for the terms GCC HR and payroll run on — bilingual, and deliberately figure-free: every term links to the AhlanHamad page whose numbers come from the same statutory engine that runs payroll.
- End-of-service benefit (EOSB / gratuity)
- The statutory lump sum a private-sector employee accrues for service and receives when employment ends, calculated from length of service and final wage under each GCC country's labour law. Called indemnity in Kuwait and gratuity elsewhere. Learn more →
- Wage Protection System (WPS)
- A government-mandated mechanism requiring employers to pay salaries through monitored banking channels, reporting each payroll run in a prescribed file format so the regulator can verify wages were paid in full and on time. Learn more →
- SIF (Salary Information File)
- The structured wage file uploaded to the bank each payroll cycle under wage-protection rules; Kuwait and the UAE use the SIF naming, while Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman call theirs WPS files. Learn more →
- Mudad
- Saudi Arabia's payroll and wage-protection compliance platform, through which employers report salary payments under the Saudi WPS. Learn more →
- PIFSS
- Kuwait's Public Institution for Social Security — the state scheme Kuwaiti employees and their employers contribute to. Learn more →
- GOSI
- Saudi Arabia's General Organization for Social Insurance — the state social-insurance scheme for Saudi employees, including pension and unemployment (SANED) branches. Learn more →
- GPSSA
- The UAE's General Pension and Social Security Authority — the federal pension scheme for Emirati employees. Learn more →
- GRSIA
- Qatar's General Retirement and Social Insurance Authority — the state pension scheme for Qatari employees. Learn more →
- SIO
- Bahrain's Social Insurance Organization — the scheme covering Bahraini employees, with specific branches also covering expatriate workers. Learn more →
- SPF (Social Protection Fund)
- Oman's Social Protection Fund, established by Royal Decree 52/2023, which replaced the former PASI scheme for Omani employees. Learn more →
- Insurable / contributory wage
- The portion of pay social-insurance contributions are computed on. Its composition (which allowances count) and its cap differ per scheme — contributions stop growing above the cap. Learn more →
- GCC Unified Insurance Extension
- The cross-border arrangement under which a GCC national working in another GCC state is covered by their home country's social-insurance scheme, processed through the host country's authority. Learn more →
- Basic salary
- The contractual wage before allowances. Which figure end-of-service and insurance calculations use — basic or basic-plus-allowances — is defined per country by law. Learn more →
- Probation period
- The initial period during which employment can be ended with reduced formalities; each GCC labour law sets a maximum length. Learn more →
- Notice period
- The statutory advance notice one party must give the other to end an indefinite employment contract; contracts may set longer periods. Learn more →
- Kuwaitization
- Kuwait's workforce-nationalization program setting national-employment targets for private-sector employers. Learn more →
- Saudization (Nitaqat)
- Saudi Arabia's nationalization program, which classifies employers into bands by their share of Saudi employees and ties government services to compliance. Learn more →
- Emiratisation
- The UAE's program setting Emirati-employment targets for private-sector employers, with penalties and incentives tied to quotas. Learn more →
- Iqama
- Saudi Arabia's residency permit for expatriate workers; the equivalent identity/residency documents differ per GCC state (e.g. Kuwait's Civil ID, Qatar's QID). Learn more →
- Civil ID
- Kuwait's national identity card, issued by PACI, used as the primary identity document for citizens and residents. Learn more →
- Annual leave entitlement
- The paid vacation days an employee earns per year of service under the labour law; statutory minimums differ per GCC country and can vary with tenure. Learn more →
- Overtime pay
- Statutorily-premium pay for hours worked beyond normal working time, with higher multipliers for rest-day work; each labour law sets minimum rates. Learn more →
- Indemnity
- Kuwait's term for the end-of-service benefit accrued under its Labour Law — the same concept called gratuity in the other GCC states. Learn more →
These are the statutory baselines, stated for general information — not legal advice. Entitlements can vary with tenure, sector, and contract; verify your specific case.