Glossary
HR & payroll terms, explained
The vocabulary of workforce management across the Gulf, Egypt, and Europe — defined in plain language.
- Wage Protection System (WPS)
- A government system used in the UAE, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia that requires employers to pay salaries through approved banks or channels so wage transfers are recorded and timely. Payroll software exports a WPS-compatible file for upload.
- GOSI (General Organization for Social Insurance)
- Saudi Arabia's social-insurance authority. Employers register staff and remit contributions on salaries; payroll must be structured so GOSI deductions are computed and reported correctly.
- End-of-service gratuity
- A lump-sum benefit paid to an employee when their employment ends in the Gulf, accrued from length of service and final salary under the local labour law. HR systems track tenure and accrue it automatically.
- Mudad
- A Saudi platform that facilitates payroll and Wage Protection System compliance, letting employers process salary payments and report them to the relevant authorities.
- Saudization (Nitaqat)
- Saudi Arabia's workforce-nationalization policy, measured by the Nitaqat program, which sets targets for employing Saudi nationals. Employers monitor headcount and nationality mix to stay compliant.
- Emiratisation
- The UAE's policy of increasing the share of Emirati nationals in the private-sector workforce, with targets reported to the Ministry of Human Resources & Emiratisation (MOHRE).
- Biometric attendance
- Clocking in and out using a unique physical trait — face or voice — instead of a card or PIN. It verifies that the person present is the employee, eliminating proxy check-ins.
- Buddy punching
- Time fraud where one employee clocks in or out on behalf of another. Biometric verification ends it because attendance is tied to a verified person, not a shareable badge or code.
- Cost per productive hour
- Total labour cost divided by the hours that were actually productive (excluding breaks and idle time) — a sharper measure of workforce efficiency than headcount or hours paid.
- GDPR
- The EU's General Data Protection Regulation. For HR systems handling biometric data it requires a lawful basis and consent, data-subject access, and the right to erasure — plus clear data-residency choices.
- Payroll run
- The periodic process of calculating each employee's gross pay, deductions, and net pay, then issuing payslips and salary transfers — typically monthly in the Gulf and Egypt.