Frequently Asked Questions.

The DEWS Master Trustee's primary function is to act as legal owner of the contributions made by the employing companies, whilst the beneficial interest lies with the underlying members (employees). They key benefit to employees is having the comfort of knowing that once contributions are made they are no longer controlled by their employer, but rather an independent trustee that is accountable to the Regulator and there to protect the members interests throughout.

The Master Trustee will appoint and oversee the administrator of the scheme whilst working with their appointed Investment Advisor to ensure that the investment options available to scheme members are performing appropriately and that the necessary information is provided to the Regulator and key stakeholders in accordance with the regulations and plan documentation in place.

Zurich, as Administrator, will facilitate the day-to-day management of the DEWS plan. We will be responsible for 
- Employer and employee enrolment
- contribution collection,
- allocation to member accounts and execution of investment instructions,
- maintainance of member records and
- management of withdrawals.

In addition, we will administer new joiners to the scheme, leavers and changes to contribution rates as notified by employers. We will also provide support to the Master Trustee, assist in their governance role and the requirement to provide regular reports to the DIFC Supervisory Board.

Zurich will provide full support to employers and employees through an online portal, a DIFC based contact centre and a specialist team of relationship managers.

There are several levels of oversight and governance for the DEWS plan. All parties to the DEWS scheme (Trustee, Administrator and Financial Advisor) will be regulated by the Dubai Financial Services Authority. In addition

- A Supervisory Body will be established to oversee and review the governance and non-regulated duties of Equiom, the trustee.

- The trustee (Equiom), will oversee the Scheme and ensure that it is operating in accordance with the Scheme documentation (Trust Deed and Scheme Rules). Equiom is a dual-regulated entity and will also be regulated by the Isle of Man Financial Services Authority.

The DIFC Supervisory Board will be a statutory corporation established by the President of the DIFC. It will oversee the establishment of the DEWS Master Trust, the scheme rules and the appointment of its trustee and administration service provider.

The DIFC Supervisory Board will provide oversight of the scheme’s governance and commercial aspects that are not subject to regulatory supervision. It will be comprised of DIFC Authority representatives, employer and employee representatives as well as independent chairman.

Yes, however they will be required to complete our ‘Third Party Payment Application Form’ which is available in the ‘Documents’ section of our website zws.zurich.ae, as well as providing all the necessary supporting documentation outlined within the form, which will require your input.

Once we have received the required documentation, you should then update the bank account details in the DEWS online portal to reflect the bank details of your payroll provider.

Employers need to make a mandatory contribution into the plan and the minimum contribution amounts will depend on the length of service. The minimum contribution rates as a percentage of basic salary are:
- for members with less than 5 years service - 5.83% 
- for members with 5 years service or more - 8.33%

Each member's tenure is calculated from the day they start employment.

For the purpose of simplicity and cost neutrality, the minimum employer contribution rates under DEWS have been designed to broadly match minimum accrual rates under the existing end-of-service benefit system.

Yes, employees can choose to pay a regular amount or percentage, as well as a lump sum or one-off payment, as voluntary contributions into the DEWS plan. They can do this through salary deduction and this process will be facilitated by employers. There is no minimum contribution amount and the maximum is 100% of total salary in that payroll period. Voluntary contributions will be automatically invested in the DEWS Default Low/Moderate Fund unless employees have made an active investment choice prior to investment of contributions.

Employers will need to make necessary changes to systems in order to
(a) make the mandatory contributions for eligible employees
(b) deduct the amounts relating to employee voluntary contribution from employee payroll
(c) upload the monthly contribution files
(d) transfer the relevant amount to the bank account of the DEWS master trustee for investment

Employers and Employees will be able to log into the DEWS system to track contributions, investments, portfolio valuations and place instructions for withdrawals.

The DEWS contribution will be made to the account of the Master Trustee, Equiom. This account will be in USD and is with Standard Chartered Bank UAE. Each employer will be provided with the information of the bank account along with a dedicated Virtual Bank Account Number (VBAN) when they enrol into DEWS.

The DEWS Plan has a charge that ranges between 1.26% and 1.33% based on the fund (conventional) that is selected. The fee for the default fund is set at 1.33% of the assets under administration.

The Sharia funds will attract a higher charge and information regarding the same will be available in the investment guide.

A Tax Identification Number (TIN) is an identifying number used for tax purposes. Most countries/jurisdictions issue these to identify their taxpayers and facilitate the administration of their national tax affairs. Each country/ jurisdiction will have its own structure (combinations of letters/numbers/symbols and digit length) and refer to it by its own terminology such as National Insurance Number, Social Security Number, Employer Identification Number or Personal Identification Number. TINs are different in every country. For example, in the UK, individuals have a National Insurance (NI) number, and companies have a Corporation Tax number. The below link may be useful in helping you identify yours: https://www.oecd.org/tax/automatic-exchange/crs-implementation-and-assistance/tax-identification-numbers/

Employees will have full control over their DEWS savings. They can switch from their default fund and choose to invest in other funds that are more suited to their risk profiles. They can do this via the DEWS portal.

Benefits from DEWS will be paid to the employee when the leave their DIFC employer.

The payment will be made directly to the employee's nominated bank account. Alternatively, the employee can defer taking the benefit and remain invested in the scheme until a later encashment date.

Employees may also be entitled to a separate payment from their employer in respect of end-of-service benefit entitlement built up in relation to service prior to the introduction of DEWS on 1st February 2020.

The DIFC Employment Law, Law 4 of 2005, currently requires employers to provide an end-of-service benefit for expatriate workers based on years of service and final basic salary – This is know as a defined benefit (DB) entitlement.

However, over the last 20 years, globally, corporates have adopted the defined contribution plans (DC) to avoid the risks associated with open-ended defined benefit plans.

The DIFC Authority has recognised the need to reform its Employment Law, to reduce such risks on employers and to ensure that members have access to a level of leaving service benefits.

This shift will help DIFC offer benefits that meet international standards. This will also become a key factor for retaining and attracting talent.

At the changeover date, employers have the following choices with regard to their accrued EoSG:
1) You can continue to manage it as you have done in the past. In this case, at service termination the employer will be liaible to pay the employee the accrued EoSG in line with the service period as at the changeover date and last drawn salary.
2) Employer can transfer the accued EoSG with employee consent into DEWS: The employer can get written consent from the employee and transfer an agreed amount, that is no less than the entitlement calculated by reference to a termination payment under DIFC Employment Law, into the DEWS Plan. In doing so, the employer are no longer liable for the payment of the accrued EoSB to the employee when employment is terminated, irrespective of any future salary increases and/or length of service. In addition, the employee accepts the ongoing investment risk.
3) Employer can transfer the accrued EoSG without employee consent: The employer can also choose to transfer the accumulated benefit without employee consent. This will be held in the plan, as a pooled fund, under the employer’s name and they can decide how the amount is to be invested. The employer will still be liable for settling each employees accrued EoSB entitlement when they leave service and they can take withdrawals from the fund to achieve this.

Exempted employees include:
(i) GPSSA citizens
(ii) Art 4(2) Employees (Secondment, Govt employees, Presidential exemption)
(iii) under notice on 01/02/20 or under a fixed contract that ends within 3 months
(iv) Equity Partners.

Those who are not in receipt of a basic salary do not have to enroll into DEWS, but can opt in. It also means those on unpaid leave, sabbatical etc. are not entitled to mandatory contributions.

If he leaves employment before completion of one year, he would not be eligible for End of Service Gratuity under the old regime but would receive the payment that has been made into DEWS from 1st February.

If he leaves employment after completion of one year, he would be eligible for End of Service Gratuity under the old regime and should be paid that amount for the period of service prior to 1st February but calculated on the last drawn salary. He would additionally be paid the amount accumulated under DEWS.

Under the new employment law, the one year wait period for End of Service Gratuity eligibility has been removed. Therefore, the employer should start contributions to DEWS for any employee joining the company after 1st February 2020. So in the above example, the first contribution for this employee starts from May 2020.

The only exception to this rule would be employees in probation periods. If the employee is in probation, the employer can choose not to make the payment until probation is completed. If probation is successfully completed, the employer has to make the back payment from the start date. If the probation is not successful, then no payment is due. If the employer made a payment during probation and the probation is not successful, the employee will still receive that payment from DEWS. Examples:
a) Employee starts probation on 1st June for 3 months. Employer makes no contribution. Employee is confirmed on 1st September. Employer should make contribution for June, July and August in Sept.
b) Employee starts probation on 1st June for 3 months. Employer makes no contribution. Employee is not confirmed after probation. Employer need not make any payment to the employee.
c) Employee starts probation on 1st June for 3 months. Employer makes monthly contributions to DEWS. Employee is not confirmed on 1st September and employment is terminated. DEWS will pay the accumulated contribution to employee.