Articles

Abu Dhabi, 13^th May 2025 – An Emirati who wishes to retire due to a disability or a work-related-injury may do so after a thorough medical investigation is conducted and approved by the concerned medical committee, which can only be done once an employee’s entity fulfills the required procedures, as stated by the General Pension and Social Security Authority (GPSSA).

A total of 479 ‘Work Fitness Assessment’ applications were sent to GPSSA’s Ma’ashi digital platform this past year, out of which 130 were approved due to meeting the disability and unfitness-to-work criteria’s in effect by the medical committee.

If an individual is deemed unfit to work, both government and private sector employers are expected to fill out a ‘Work Fitness Assessment’ application that can be located on GPSSA’s Ma’ashi digital platform in order to ensure a retirement decision is fairly taken.

Once the GPSSA receives the request, all the required conditions are reviewed prior to being submitted to the concerned medical committee, who then diligently review the conditions and documents that include: a certified medical report approved by a UAE-based government hospital that does not exceed six months, a medical examination upon work appointment, a copy of a valid Emirates ID and a recent personal photo.

The request is then evaluated by the medical committee working with the authority once it meets GPSSA’s submission criterions. It is important to note that the medical committee was formed by the UAE Ministry of Health and Prevention with a task to decide on the conditions of non-fitness or complete disability based on the provisions of the pension and social security law.  If the committee issues a decision to approve a total disability or a health-related condition that has resulted in an individual being unfit to work, no particular service period is required for the pension entitlement and the insured’s contribution to GPSSA becomes sufficient.

From here, the employer must fill out the employee’s end-of-service file via GPSSA’s Ma’ashi digital platform and attach all the required documents, including the medical committee’s decision.

A pension payment is then calculated and disbursed based on a contribution period of 15 years if the individual’s service period is less than that, or according to the actual contribution period if more than 15 years.