Abstarct: The primary objective of this study was to examine the effects of emotional intelligence and emotional exhaustion on employee engagement, with particular emphasis on the moderating role of ethical climate in Bank Tejarat branches located in western Tehran. In terms of purpose, the study is applied, and regarding data collection, it follows a descxriptive–correlational design. The statistical population consisted of employees working in Bank Tejarat branches across western Tehran (Districts 2, 5, 21, and 22), comprising approximately 825 individuals (25 branches with an average of 33 employees per branch). baxsed on the Morgan table, a sample size of 263 respondents was determined and selected using a multistage random sampling method. The findings indicated that all research hypotheses were supported. Emotional intelligence was found to have a significant positive effect on employee engagement, whereas emotional exhaustion exhibited a significant negative effect. Moreover, ethical climate not only directly enhanced employee engagement but also acted as a strong moderating variable, strengthening the positive relationship between emotional intelligence and engagement while mitigating the negative impact of emotional exhaustion on engagement. These results highlight a critical insight: in high-pressure, customer-oriented environments such as banking, a supportive and fair ethical climate functions as a protective mechanism. On one hand, it amplifies the beneficial effects of employees’ emotional capabilities, and on the other, it alleviates the detrimental consequences of emotional exhaustion. The significance of these findings lies in demonstrating that focusing solely on individual development (e.g., emotional intelligence training) is insufficient to ensure sustainable employee engagement without simultaneously fostering an ethical and just organizational environment.