Nine questions. Score it yourself. Nothing to book.
An audit does not test whether payroll paid the right amount. It tests whether you can show why it was right, who approved it, and where the record sits. Answer each question below honestly against how your payroll actually runs, then press the button to see your score.
The nine questions
Tick Yes only if you could show the evidence today.
- Bank details. Can you name everyone who can change an employee bank account, and is each change recorded with who made it, when, and who approved it?
- Approvals. Does every overtime and leave approval leave a record that still exists after the person who approved it has left the company?
- Historical payslips. Can you reproduce any payslip from the last two years exactly as it was issued, without rebuilding it from a spreadsheet?
- End-of-service provision. Does your gratuity provision reconcile to a register you can open now, calculated on basic salary?
- Time to produce. If an auditor asked for the full approval trail behind one payroll run, could you produce it quickly and completely?
- Leave encashment. Are unused annual leave balances encashed on basic salary, and can you show the rule that was applied to each?
- Inter-entity moves. When an employee moves between entities mid-year, is their continuous service carried with them rather than rebuilt by hand?
- One record. Is there a single source for each employee record, rather than HR, payroll and the roster each holding their own version?
- Traceability. For any figure in last month’s run, can you trace it back to the hour, the approver and the date?
8–9 Audit ready. Your controls would stand up to a review.
6–7 Mostly controlled. Gaps that surface under pressure, usually retention of approval evidence and how a historical payslip is reproduced.
Under 6. The evidence is thinner than the run looks, and is worth a short conversation.
Where gulfHR sits in this
gulfHR holds payroll, records, approvals and statutory reporting in one system with role-based access, maker-checker approval workflows and an audit trail against every pay period, so a figure can be traced back to the hour, the approver and the date. Scored under six, or not sure? Book a 15-minute payroll control review, no preparation needed, at sales@gulfhr.ae.
Scope. The questions reflect UAE Federal Labour Law (Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021) and record-keeping expectations under Federal Decree-Law No. 9 of 2024, which allows a labour claim to be brought up to two years after the employment relationship ends. Gratuity and leave encashment are calculated on basic salary. DIFC uses DEWS rather than gratuity, ADGM operates its own end-of-service regime, and free-zone mechanics vary by authority. This guidance reflects current understanding of applicable requirements and does not constitute legal advice.
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