The package will benefit 31,979 employees, retirees, citizens and families and add more than Dhs1.187 billion to Sharjah government expenditure each year, according to official figures released on Thursday.
The largest group covered is Sharjah government employees. A total of 17,776 employees in central and decentralised government entities will benefit from the new threshold, at an annual cost exceeding Dhs720 million.
Families receiving social assistance will also have their monthly living standard raised to a minimum of Dhs20,000. The measure covers 6,652 families and carries an annual cost of Dhs195,130,164.
The directive extends the same minimum to 2,251 retirees from the Sharjah government, at a yearly cost of Dhs113,056,572. Another 5,300 citizens who retired outside the Sharjah government and receive supplementary retirement grants will be covered at an annual cost of Dhs159 million.
Abdullah Ibrahim Al Zaabi, chairman of Sharjah’s Department of Human Resources and a member of the emirate’s Executive Council, said the measures were approved following studies ordered by Sheikh Sultan into household expenditure and the range of needs faced by citizens.
The adjustments are intended to set a common income floor across several categories of beneficiaries rather than apply only to government salaries. Officials described the Dhs20,000 figure as the minimum level needed to support a decent standard of living.
For government employees, the changes also alter starting pay for new recruits. University graduates entering Sharjah government service will receive a starting monthly salary of Dhs27,125, while school leavers joining government employment will receive Dhs20,950 a month.
The measures therefore combine salary adjustments with targeted social transfers and retirement support. They cover people already working in government, former government employees, retirees whose service was outside Sharjah government but who qualify for supplementary grants, and households receiving social assistance.
The decision substantially increases the fiscal commitment attached to Sharjah’s income-support system. The official annual cost figures for the four beneficiary groups total more than Dhs1.187 billion, with employee support accounting for the largest share, followed by social assistance, supplementary retirement grants and payments to government retirees.
The new minimum came into force at the beginning of September, meaning eligible beneficiaries are covered from the current salary and assistance cycle. The Sharjah Government Media Bureau said the approval applied across the relevant government and social-support categories from this month.
Sharjah has used income thresholds and supplementary assistance to support citizens whose household resources fall below prescribed levels. The latest directive consolidates that approach by applying a Dhs20,000 minimum across multiple groups at the same time.
Earlier this year, Sheikh Sultan approved an increase in monthly social assistance to Dhs17,500 for 4,237 beneficiary cases, with annual spending of more than Dhs404.9 million. The September package supersedes that level for families now covered by the higher minimum and widens the scope to employees and retirees.
Officials have not presented the Dhs20,000 standard as a uniform basic salary for every beneficiary. Rather, it functions as a minimum living threshold, with government support or salary adjustments used to bring eligible recipients to the approved level depending on their category and circumstances.
The measure was announced through Sharjah’s official government channels and detailed by Al Zaabi during the Direct Line programme broadcast by Sharjah Radio and Television. The authorities separately specified beneficiary numbers and annual costs for each of the four groups covered by the decision.
The scale of the employee component means the adjustment reaches well beyond households enrolled in the social assistance system. It also links the emirate’s pay policy to the same living-standard benchmark used for pension and welfare support, while preserving higher starting salaries for graduates entering government service.
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