UAE GratuityCalculator
Estimate your end of service gratuity under Article 51 of Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021. Enter your basic salary and your dates for an instant figure.
- Article 51 formula
- Basic salary only
- Part-time share supported
- Free, no sign-up
End of service gratuity estimate
Free, instant, nothing is stored
An estimate from the formula in the law, not a legal ruling or an offer from your employer. Allowances, deductions and contract terms can change the final sum.
Your estimate
Service counted: 7.66 years (2,796 days)
About this calculator
This UAE gratuity calculator estimates the end of service pay of a foreign, full-time worker in the private sector under Article 51 of Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021. Enter your last monthly basic salary and your service dates. The law pays 21 days’ wage for each of the first five years and 30 days’ wage for each year after that, capped at two years’ wage.
UAE nationals are not covered by Article 51. The u.ae portal says their end of service benefits follow the pension and social security legislation.
How the UAE gratuity is calculated
Article 51 sets the rule for foreign full-time workers who have completed a year or more of continuous service. The gratuity is worked out on the basic wage, at the rates below.
- Take your last basic monthly wage, the one in your employment contract without allowances.
- Divide it by 30 for a daily wage. The law counts ‘days’ of wage and does not print a divisor, so we use 30, as explained under assumptions.
- Count your service in years, minus any unpaid days of absence. Parts of a year count in proportion once you have completed one year.
- Pay 21 days’ wage for each of the first five years, then 30 days’ wage for each year after that.
- Stop at the cap: the total cannot be more than two years’ wage, which is 24 months of basic salary.
UAE gratuity worked examples
The table applies the formula with a 30-day month and a 365-day year. It is our arithmetic from the law, not a figure from any ministry.
| Last basic salary | Service | First 5 years | After year 5 | Gratuity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AED 5,000 | 3 years | AED 10,500 | – | AED 10,500 |
| AED 8,000 | 5 years | AED 28,000 | – | AED 28,000 |
| AED 12,000 | 1 year 6 months | AED 12,600 | – | AED 12,600 |
| AED 10,000 | 8 years | AED 35,000 | AED 30,000 | AED 65,000 |
| AED 15,000 | 12 years | AED 52,500 | AED 105,000 | AED 157,500 |
| AED 10,000 | 30 years | AED 35,000 | AED 250,000 | AED 240,000 (cap applies) |
What counts as basic salary
Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021 defines the basic wage as the wage stated in the employment contract for the work done, without other allowances or benefits in kind. The u.ae portal lists housing, transportation, utilities and furniture as examples that are not included.
If your payslip splits pay into basic and allowances, use the basic figure alone. If the contract names only one lump sum, check how your employer records the split before relying on the result.
Who this calculator covers
Covered
Foreign workers on full-time private-sector contracts who have served at least one continuous year.
Part-time and other patterns
Cabinet Resolution No. 1 of 2022, Article 30, scales the full-time benefit by contract hours a year over full-time hours a year. Tick the part-time box to apply that share.
Not covered
UAE nationals, who fall under the pension and social security legislation. Employees of financial free zones should check their own authority’s rules, since those authorities supervise their own schemes.
Assumptions this calculator makes
- A 30-day month. The law speaks of days of wage and does not print the divisor. The u.ae portal’s voluntary Savings Scheme fixes employer contributions at 5.83 per cent of monthly basic salary before five years and 8.33 per cent after, which equal 21/360 and 30/360 of the monthly wage and fit a 30-day month.
- A 365-day year, counting the first and the last day of service. Counted service is divided by 365 to get years and fractions.
- No deductions. Article 51 lets an employer deduct sums payable under the law or a court judgment. We do not guess at those.
- No resignation penalty. The English text of Article 51 that we read contains no reduction for resigning, so the result is the same however the contract ends.
The optional Savings Scheme
The Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation runs a voluntary alternative to the traditional gratuity. Employers who join pay 5.83 per cent of the monthly basic salary into an approved investment fund before five years of service and 8.33 per cent after. Employees get those contributions and any returns within 14 days of the end of employment.
If your employer enrolled you, ask for the scheme statement instead of using this tool for the enrolled period. The calculator covers the traditional gratuity, including any amount accrued before enrolment.
Payment deadline and deductions
The employer must pay the worker’s dues within 14 days of the end of the contract, according to Article 53 and the u.ae portal. Article 51 allows deductions of amounts payable under the law or a judgment, under the conditions in the Implementing Regulation. If the sum or the timing looks wrong, MoHRE handles labour complaints.
Final settlement: what to check, and what to do if it is short
Gratuity is one line of a final settlement. Before you accept a figure, check each line against the rule that creates it. The table lists the lines the labour law names.
| What you may be owed | Rule | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Unpaid wages and every other entitlement | Paid within 14 days of the end of the contract | Article 53 |
| End of service gratuity | 21 days’ basic wage a year for the first five years and 30 days after, capped at two years’ wage | Article 51 |
| Unused annual leave | Wage for accrued days when you leave, with parts of a year counted in proportion | Article 29(9) |
| Notice period | Full wage during the notice period. Whoever skips notice owes the other party an allowance equal to the wage for the notice period | Article 43(2) and 43(3) |
| Deductions | The employer may deduct amounts payable under the law or a judgment, on the conditions in the Implementing Regulation | Article 51(7) |
Calculators that still run the repealed law
Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021 abrogated Federal Law No. 8 of 1980 (Article 73) and took effect on 2 February 2022 (Article 74). Article 51 has no reduction for resigning. It only needs a year or more of continuous service. Yet on 25 October 2026 one online calculator page we read still listed one third of the gratuity for 1 to 3 years and two thirds for 3 to 5 years, which is the old resignation scale. Google’s AI answer for this search says those reductions no longer apply.
“a surprising number of them are still running the old Federal Law No. 8 of 1980 rules. That law was repealed in February 2022.”r/abudhabi, August 2026 (3 upvotes). A single account, not an official source.
“The bit people usually miss with resigning: under the current labour law it doesn’t reduce your gratuity anymore.”r/abudhabi, October 2026 (4 upvotes). A single account, not an official source.
If a calculator or an HR figure for a resignation looks lower than this tool’s result, the first thing to check is whether it uses the 1980 scale.
Who falls outside this calculation
- Government, armed forces and domestic workers. Article 3(2) takes employees of federal and local government, the armed forces, police and security, and domestic workers out of the decree-law.
- UAE nationals. Article 51(1) sends them to the pension and social security rules.
- Under one year. Article 51(2) needs a year or more of continuous service.
If your settlement is short
- Work out your own figure here, and note the basic salary, the dates and any unpaid days you used.
- Ask the employer for the settlement in writing, line by line, and compare it with the table above.
- Keep your contract, payslips and messages about the settlement.
- If it is still short after the 14 days, a request goes to MOHRE. Article 54 has the Ministry try an amicable settlement, then refer the dispute to the competent court. Our MOHRE complaint guide covers channels and deadlines.
- Article 55 exempts labour claims from judicial fees, and the text sets a threshold of AED 100,000 for requests filed by workers.
Some people take a smaller sum to end a dispute quickly. One r/dubai poster described that choice in October 2026.
“Instead of fighting over every single dirham, I agreed to accept AED 4,900 just so I could cut ties with the company, move on, and finally have some peace.”r/dubai, October 2026 (6 upvotes). A single account, not an official source.
That is a personal decision. The useful part is knowing the full figure first, so you can see what you would be giving up.
UAE gratuity calculator questions
Do I get gratuity if I resign?
Article 51 as translated into English contains no reduction for resignation, and the u.ae portal describes one rule for all foreign full-time workers with a year of service. We did not read the Implementing Regulation, so check it if your case is unusual.
Does gratuity include housing and other allowances?
No. It is calculated on the last basic wage. The u.ae portal says allowances such as housing, transportation, utilities and furniture are not included.
Is there gratuity for less than one year of service?
No. A worker must complete at least one year of continuous service. The calculator shows zero below one year.
What is the maximum gratuity in the UAE?
Two years’ wage in total, which is 24 times the monthly basic salary in this calculator. With a 30-day month the cap is reached at about 25.5 years of service.
How long does the employer have to pay?
Fourteen days from the end of the contract, per Article 53 and the u.ae portal.
Sources and what we could not confirm
On 25 October 2026 we read the u.ae page on end of service benefits for private-sector workers, which shows an update date of 15 October 2026, and the English text of Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021, which the portal marks as not an official translation. Article 30 of Cabinet Resolution No. 1 of 2022 is quoted as the u.ae page describes it.
- We did not read MoHRE’s own calculator or the Implementing Regulation’s detailed rules.
- The 30-day divisor and the 365-day year are our assumptions, set out above.
- Rules for free zones with their own employment law are not covered.