Private sector · end of service benefits
UAE gratuity calculator What you are actually owed
Enter your basic salary and your dates. This works out your end-of-service benefit under Federal Decree-Law 33 of 2021 — the 21 and 30 day rates, part years, unpaid leave, part-time contracts and the two-year cap.
Basic salary only. Housing, transport, utilities and furniture allowances are excluded by law.
End-of-service gratuity
5 years of service · 105 days' salary
- Daily wage
- AED 333
- First 5 years, at 21 days
- 105 days
- Payable
- AED 35,000
Your employer must settle gratuity and any outstanding wages within 14 days of your last working day.
Everything is worked out in your browser. No salary you type is sent anywhere or stored.
Resigning does not cut your gratuity
Under the old 1980 labour law, a worker who resigned before five years lost a third or two thirds of their gratuity. That law was replaced. The current rules pay the same 21 and 30 day rates whether you resign or your employer ends the contract — the official rules make no distinction. If a calculator asks whether you resigned and then pays you less for it, check which law it is applying.
How the figure is worked out
1
Your service period
Counted from your first working day to your last as whole years, whole months and the days left over — the same way the official calculators count it. Days of unpaid absence come out first. Under one full year, nothing is payable.
2
Your daily wage
Your monthly basic salary spread over a 30-day month. Allowances for housing, transport, utilities and furniture are excluded by law and must not be included.
3
The two rates and the cap
21 days of salary for each of the first five years, 30 days for each year after. Whatever that comes to, the total is capped at two years’ wage.
Where these figures come from
Last checked against the source: 21 August 2026
- UAE Government — End of service benefits for workers in the private sector — the page states it was updated 12 August 2026
Rules are Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021, Articles 51 to 53. Part-time and other work models follow Article 30 of Cabinet Resolution No. 1 of 2022.
Two things the official text does not settle, and how we handle them: it fixes the entitlement in days but never states how a monthly salary converts to a daily one, so we use a 30-day month, the market convention and the reading more favourable to the worker. And it states the cap in "wage" while basing the entitlement on basic salary, so we apply the cap on basic salary, which is the conservative reading. The Dubai Development Authority's calculator does not apply the cap at all, so above roughly 25 years of service its figure is higher than ours.
Checked against that calculator on 21 August 2026 across nine service periods, from one year to thirty, including part months and part years. Every figure matched to within a dirham of rounding, the capped case aside.
What this does not cover
- Free zones with their own employment regimes, including the DIFC and ADGM.
- UAE nationals, who fall under the pension and social security system rather than gratuity.
- Service before 2 February 2022 under the previous labour law, whose transitional treatment we have not verified against the legislation.
Gratuity is one line of the settlement
Unused leave and unworked notice are paid too — and not on the same salary.
Gratuity and leave are worked out on your basic salary. Notice pay is your full wage, allowances included. Calculators that take one salary and apply it to all three overstate two of them and understate the third.
Work out the full settlementQuestions
How is gratuity calculated in the UAE?
You earn 21 days of basic salary for each of your first five years of service, and 30 days of basic salary for each year after that. Part years count proportionally. The total can never exceed two years’ wage.
Do I lose gratuity if I resign?
Not under the current law. Federal Decree-Law 33 of 2021 pays the same 21 and 30 day rates whether you resign or your contract is ended. The old rule that cut a resigning worker’s gratuity to one third or two thirds came from the 1980 labour law, which was replaced — but many calculators still apply it.
Is gratuity calculated on basic salary or total salary?
Basic salary only. Housing, transport, utilities and furniture allowances are excluded by law, which is why a figure built from your total package will be far too high.
How long do I need to work to get gratuity?
One full year of continuous service. Below that, no gratuity is payable at all. Days of unpaid absence do not count towards the year.
When does my employer have to pay it?
Within 14 days of the end of your contract, along with any outstanding wages and other entitlements. Your employer may deduct amounts you owe them from the payment.
Does this apply to UAE nationals?
No. Emiratis working in the private sector fall under the pension and social security system rather than end-of-service gratuity. This calculator is for expatriate workers in the private sector.