UAE Leave SalaryCalculator
Work out the annual leave you have earned and what your unused days are worth in cash, using Article 29 of the labour law.
- Article 29 rules
- Under and over one year
- Cash value of your balance
- Free, no sign-up
Annual leave and leave salary
Free, instant, nothing is stored
An estimate from the formula in the law. Your contract or company policy can give more leave than the legal minimum.
Your estimate
Leave balance: 84.71 days
About this calculator
This UAE leave salary calculator turns your joining date and basic salary into the annual leave you have earned under Article 29 of Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021, and into the cash value of the days you have not used. The law gives 30 days for each year of service and values accrued leave on the basic wage.
How annual leave builds up
Article 29 sets a minimum. The right to leave depends on how long you have worked, and the calculator applies the rule that fits your service.
| Service | Annual leave earned | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Less than 6 months | None under Article 29 | Article 29(1)(b) starts after six months |
| More than 6 months, under a year | 2 days for each month | Article 29(1)(b) |
| 1 year or more | 30 days for each year, with parts of a year in proportion | Article 29(1)(a) and (c) |
- Add up your service from the joining date, and take off days of unpaid absence.
- Apply the rule above to get the leave days earned.
- Subtract the leave days already taken to get your balance.
- Multiply the balance by the daily basic wage, your monthly basic divided by 30, for the cash value.
How leave pay is valued
Article 29(6) says a worker is entitled to the wage for the period of annual leave. Article 29(9) says a worker who quits before using accrued leave is entitled to a wage for those days, and that leave for parts of the year is calculated on the basic wage. The cash figure in this calculator therefore uses basic salary only, without housing or transport allowances.
UAE leave salary 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.
| Basic salary | Service | Leave earned | Balance | Cash value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AED 6,000 | 1 year | 30 days | 30 days | AED 6,000 |
| AED 6,000 | 2 years | 60 days | 60 days | AED 12,000 |
| AED 9,000 | 2 years, 20 days taken | 60 days | 40 days | AED 12,000 |
| AED 7,000 | 200 days (about 6.6 months) | 12 days | 12 days | AED 2,800 |
| AED 12,000 | 5 years, 45 days taken | 150 days | 105 days | AED 42,000 |
Rules for taking leave
- Dates. The employer can set leave dates by work needs and agreement with the worker, and must give at least a month’s notice of the date (Article 29(4)).
- Carry-forward. With the employer’s approval and under the establishment’s rules, leave can be carried to the next year (Article 29(5)).
- Accumulation. An employer cannot stop a worker from using leave accrued for more than two years, unless the worker wishes to carry it forward or take a cash allowance (Article 29(8)).
- Holidays inside leave. Public holidays that fall within the leave period count as part of the leave, unless the contract or company rules say otherwise (Article 29(7)). Our UAE public holidays guide lists the official dates.
- Probation. The employer may agree to give leave during probation, and the worker keeps the right to pay for the unused balance if probation is not passed (Article 29(3)).
Assumptions this calculator makes
- A 30-day month for the daily wage, as in our gratuity calculator. The law counts days of wage and does not print a divisor.
- A 365-day year for service. Between six months and a year we count whole 30.4-day months and pay two days for each.
- Basic wage only. If your contract says the leave wage includes allowances, the real figure will be higher.
- Calendar days of leave. The law speaks of 30 days a year without saying working days, so the balance is in leave days as your employer counts them.
When your employer says no, and the two leave-pay numbers
Most leave disputes come down to who chooses the dates, whether days can roll over, and which salary figure applies. Article 29 answers each of them in its own clause.
| Question | What Article 29 says |
|---|---|
| Can the employer refuse my dates? | The employer may set the dates in agreement with the worker, or rotate leave among staff, and must tell the worker at least a month ahead (29(4)). |
| Can unused leave carry over? | Yes, with the employer’s approval and under the establishment’s rules (29(5)). |
| Can leave be held back for years? | The employer may not prevent leave accrued for more than two years, unless the worker wishes to carry it forward or take a cash allowance (29(8)). |
| What about probation? | The employer may agree to grant leave from the balance. If you do not pass probation you keep the right to compensation for the rest of the balance (29(3)). |
| Do public holidays inside my leave count? | Yes, they count as leave days unless the contract or company rules are more favourable (29(7)). |
| What if I leave before using it? | You are entitled to the wage for the accrued days (29(9)). |
A r/dubai thread in May 2026 asked what happens if the employer says no after the first full year. The most direct reply read:
“The clue’s in the name: Entitled. Annual. Leave. You are entitled to leave. And it’s annual. They can’t deny you it.”r/dubai, May 2026 (2 upvotes). A single account, not an official source.
Our reading of the text is that Article 29 gives the employer a say over when you take leave and over carry-over, but not over whether the entitlement exists. The rules for carry-over and cash allowances sit partly in the Implementing Regulation, which we did not read.
The two leave-pay numbers
Pay while you are on holiday and cash for unused days at the end are different figures. Article 29(1) gives annual leave “with full wage”, and the decree defines wage as basic wage plus the cash allowances and benefits in kind set in the contract. Article 29(9) says the leave wage for parts of a year is calculated on the basic wage, and the calculator uses basic for the cash value, as other pages that rank for this search do.
| Situation | Salary used | Example: basic AED 7,000, allowances AED 3,000, 10 days |
|---|---|---|
| Taking annual leave | Full wage, basic plus allowances, our reading of 29(1) | AED 3,333.33 (10,000 ÷ 30 × 10) |
| Cash for unused days when you leave | Basic wage, as used by this calculator | AED 2,333.33 (7,000 ÷ 30 × 10) |
The AED 1,000 gap is our arithmetic. Article 29(9) puts the basic-wage wording on the parts-of-year sentence, so if your contract or the regulation treats the cash-out differently, the payout can change. Ask HR which salary figure they use before you agree a settlement.
- Check your leave balance in this calculator before you hand in notice.
- Ask for leave dates in writing, at least a month ahead.
- If you will not use the days, ask whether the company allows carry-over or a cash allowance, and get it in writing.
- At the end of the contract, add the cash value to your gratuity and check it against the final settlement.
UAE leave salary questions
How many days of annual leave do I get in the UAE?
At least 30 days for each year of service under Article 29(1)(a). Between six months and a year the minimum is two days for each month.
Do I get paid for unused leave when I leave the job?
Yes. Article 29(9) says a worker who quits before using accrued leave is entitled to a wage for those days, calculated on the basic wage.
Does leave salary include allowances?
Under Article 29(9) the pay for leave for parts of the year is calculated on the basic wage. Your contract may promise more.
Do public holidays extend my leave?
Not unless your contract or company rules say so. Article 29(7) counts holidays that fall inside the leave as part of it.
Can leave carry over to next year?
With your employer’s approval and under the company’s rules, yes, under Article 29(5).
Sources and what we could not confirm
On 25 October 2026 we read the English text of Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021 on the u.ae asset server, which marks it as not an official translation. Articles 28 and 29 are summarised from that text.
- We did not read the Implementing Regulation, which sets the detailed rules and compensation for leave.
- The 30-day divisor and the month rule between six and twelve months are our reading of the law.
- Part-time leave is set by actual hours and the contract, so this tool does not cover it.