UAE Gratuity Calculator
Estimate an expatriate worker's end-of-service gratuity from the last monthly basic wage, continuous service, unpaid absence and work model. The calculator applies the current 21-day and 30-day formula, proportional service and the two-year wage cap.
Last Updated: July 29, 2026Calculate UAE End-of-Service Gratuity
Use employment dates for a calendar-based estimate or enter a service length supplied by payroll. Money fields are in UAE dirhams.
Enter valid employment details and select Calculate Gratuity.
The accrual uses Basic Wage and the cap uses total Wage. This estimate does not decide legal entitlement, deductions, a special scheme balance or better contractual benefits.
Calculation schedule
| Segment | Service | Rate | Amount |
|---|
Calculation steps
- Check whether the federal private-sector formula applies.
- Enter the last monthly basic wage and eligible service.
- Apply 21 days per year for the first five years and 30 days thereafter.
- Apply any part-time proportion and the two-year wage cap.
What Is UAE End-of-Service Gratuity?
End-of-service gratuity is a statutory lump-sum benefit for an eligible expatriate worker when employment ends. For workers covered by the federal private-sector labour law, the traditional calculation uses the last basic wage and continuous service with the employer.
Article 51 of Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021 sets the main full-time rule. An eligible foreign worker receives 21 days of basic wage for each year of the first five years, then 30 days of basic wage for each later year. A fraction of a year is counted proportionally after the worker completes one year of continuous service. Absence without pay is not counted in the service period. The final gratuity cannot exceed two years of wage.
Current-law point: the old one-third and two-thirds reductions for resignation under an unlimited contract are not part of the current federal formula. Resignation, employer termination and contract expiry use the same statutory rate in this calculator. A dispute, lawful deduction, special scheme or better contract term can still change the amount paid.
How to Use This UAE Gratuity Calculator
- Select the worker and jurisdiction. Continue with the amount only for an expatriate covered by the standard federal private-sector formula.
- Select full-time, part-time, job-sharing or the applicable temporary-work option. Part-time and job-sharing inputs need the contracted-hours proportion.
- Enter the last monthly Basic Wage for accrual and total Wage for the cap.
- Choose employment dates or a service length. Use the service figure from payroll when it has already removed unpaid absence.
- Enter unpaid absence days that should not count toward continuous service.
- Select Calculate Gratuity. Review eligibility, daily basic wage, effective gratuity days, the calculation schedule and the cap check.
The date mode counts the first and last entered working dates, subtracts unpaid absence, then divides eligible days by 365. This inclusive day count is the calculator's convention. In service-length mode, enter a decimal year figure supplied by payroll, such as 7.5 for seven years and six months. Unpaid days still reduce that figure at 1/365 each. Use date mode for a day-based estimate. Payroll records and the employer's confirmed service figure control the final count.
UAE Gratuity Formula
The monthly Basic Wage is divided by 30 to obtain the daily basic wage. The service period is then split at five years. The raw 21-day and 30-day accrual uses Basic Wage. The statutory maximum uses Wage, which the law defines more broadly to include Basic Wage plus contractual cash allowances and benefits in kind.
Worked Example: AED 10,000 Basic Wage and Six Years
Assume an expatriate full-time employee has a last monthly basic wage of AED 10,000 and exactly six eligible years of service. The daily basic wage is AED 10,000 divided by 30, or AED 333.33 before final rounding.
| Step | Calculation | Result |
|---|---|---|
| First five years | AED 10,000 ÷ 30 × 21 × 5 | AED 35,000 |
| Sixth year | AED 10,000 ÷ 30 × 30 × 1 | AED 10,000 |
| Estimated gratuity | AED 35,000 + AED 10,000 | AED 45,000 |
If the worker's last monthly total Wage is AED 15,000, the two-year wage cap is AED 360,000, so it does not reduce this example. If the worker had six years and six months of eligible service, the extra half-year after year five would be calculated proportionally at the 30-day rate.
Basic Wage and Total Wage Serve Different Purposes
The 21-day and 30-day gratuity accrual is based on the worker's last Basic Wage. A salary package may also contain housing allowance, transport allowance, schooling, utilities, commission, bonus or benefits in kind. Do not place these amounts in the Basic Wage field unless the employment contract classifies them as Basic Wage.
Article 51 states that the final gratuity cannot exceed two years of Wage. Article 1 defines Wage as Basic Wage plus the contractual cash allowances and benefits in kind paid for the work. Enter that broader monthly amount in the total Wage field for the cap test. The tool rejects a total Wage below Basic Wage.
For part-time and job-sharing work, enter the actual last contractual Basic Wage and total Wage for that employment. Do not gross either amount up to a full-time equivalent unless an official employer calculation expressly supplies that basis.
Part-Time and Job-Sharing Gratuity
Article 30 of Cabinet Resolution No. 1 of 2022 provides a proportional method for part-time and job-sharing workers. The annual contracted hours are divided by the annual hours under a comparable full-time contract. That percentage is multiplied by the gratuity value for the full-time contract, including its cap.
If both schedules remain constant through the year, the weekly-hours ratio gives the same percentage. For example, 24 contracted hours divided by 48 comparable full-time hours equals 50%. If the Article 51 reference amount from the actual contractual Basic Wage is AED 45,000, the estimated proportional amount is AED 22,500.
Job-sharing may involve more than one worker or employer arrangement. Calculate each employment relationship from its own contract, basic wage, hours and service record. The tool does not combine service across separate employers.
Temporary work under one year is excluded. For temporary service of at least one year, select the confirmed-full-time option only when the contract supports it. A part-time or unclear temporary role stops for authority review.
Resignation, Termination and Partial Years
Under the current federal law, the traditional gratuity rate is not reduced simply because the employee resigns. The old resignation fractions still appear on many websites, but they came from the previous law. This calculator deliberately does not apply them.
Employer termination, including an Article 44 dismissal without notice, does not automatically erase gratuity under the current Article 51. Permitted deductions are a separate issue. Renewals and agreed extensions of a fixed-term contract count with the original continuous service, and successful probation forms part of service.
A worker must complete at least one year of continuous service to qualify under the standard formula. Once that threshold is met, a later fraction of a year is included proportionally. For example, 4.5 eligible years uses 21 days multiplied by 4.5. At 5.5 years, the first five years use the 21-day rate and the final half-year uses half of the 30-day rate.
The calculator estimates the statutory formula, not whether the service was legally continuous. A break between contracts, transfer between legal employers, disputed absence, unpaid leave, work permit history or a settlement agreement needs an employer-record or legal review.
Unpaid Absence and the Two-Year Cap
Article 51 excludes periods of absence without pay from the service period used for gratuity. Enter only days that the employer is entitled to exclude. Paid annual leave, paid sick leave and other protected paid periods should not be entered as unpaid absence merely because the worker was away from the workplace.
The total traditional gratuity cannot exceed two years of Wage. This tool treats the cap as 24 months of entered total Wage for full-time work. For part-time and job-sharing estimates, it applies the same work proportion to both the reference gratuity and the cap. Long service normally reaches the cap only after many years, but the cap check appears in every result.
Who Should Not Use the Standard Formula?
| Worker or arrangement | Why this calculator stops | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| UAE or pension-covered GCC national | Private-sector pension and social-security rules apply instead of the expatriate gratuity formula. | Applicable pension authority and payroll contributions. |
| DIFC or ADGM employee | These financial free zones have separate employment and end-of-service rules. | DIFC qualifying scheme, ADGM statutory or written alternative, and legacy service. |
| Alternative savings scheme member | The benefit depends on employer contributions, investment units and any pre-enrolment gratuity. | Fund statement, enrolment date and employer reconciliation. |
| Domestic or government worker | Separate federal or local legislation and employment rules apply. | The specific contract, authority and applicable law. |
Many non-financial free-zone companies apply the federal framework, while DIFC and ADGM have separate systems. Do not assume that every free-zone job follows either pattern. Confirm the legal employer, free-zone authority and governing employment rules.
Alternative End-of-Service Benefits Scheme
The UAE introduced a voluntary alternative savings system for eligible private-sector employers. Once an employee is registered, the employer makes monthly contributions to an approved investment fund instead of continuing the traditional gratuity accrual for the registered period. The employee's final fund value depends on contributions, units, fees and investment performance.
Under Cabinet Resolution No. 96 of 2023, the employer's basic monthly contribution is 5.83% of monthly Basic Wage while total service does not exceed five years and 8.33% after service exceeds five years. The service band runs from the original employment start, not the scheme enrolment date. These contribution rates do not guarantee the fund value.
Traditional gratuity earned before enrolment is preserved and normally paid when employment ends, using Basic Wage at the scheme-participation date for that frozen tranche. It should not be recalculated using a later final Basic Wage.
The scheme generally pays a beneficiary's basic subscriptions plus investment returns within 14 days after employment ends. Successors receive the due amount within 10 working days after a worker's death.
A current basic wage and service length are not enough to reproduce a scheme balance. The calculator therefore stops when Alternative savings scheme is selected. Review the fund statement and the employer's calculation of traditional gratuity accrued before registration. Do not add the full traditional estimate to the fund value, because that can double-count post-enrolment service.
Payment Timing, Deductions and Better Contract Terms
Article 53 requires the employer to pay wages and other end-of-contract entitlements within 14 days from the contract end date. If the worker dies, Article 15 uses a 10-day deadline from death or the employer becoming aware of it. The amount received can differ from this calculator because the law permits certain deductions under controlled conditions. Employer loans, judicial amounts, unlawful damage claims and other deductions need records and the applicable procedure.
The statutory formula is a minimum framework. An employment contract, company policy, collective arrangement or settlement may grant a better benefit. This tool does not reduce a better contractual promise to the statutory amount. Compare the estimate with the employment contract, final settlement, leave encashment, notice pay and any separate benefits rather than treating gratuity as the entire final settlement.
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UAE Gratuity Calculator FAQs
These answers explain the scope and assumptions used by the calculator.
What is the current UAE gratuity formula?
For an eligible expatriate full-time worker under the federal private-sector law, gratuity is 21 days of last basic wage for each year of the first five years and 30 days for each later year. A qualifying part-year is proportional, and the total cannot exceed two years of wage.
Is UAE gratuity calculated on basic wage or gross salary?
The 21-day and 30-day accrual uses the last Basic Wage, so allowances are excluded from that accrual. The overall Article 51 maximum is two years of Wage, a broader defined amount, which this tool asks for separately as total Wage.
Do I receive less gratuity if I resign?
No reduction applies merely because an eligible worker resigns under the current federal formula. The old one-third and two-thirds resignation reductions came from the previous law and are not used by this calculator.
Do I get UAE gratuity if I worked less than one year?
No. The standard federal private-sector formula requires at least one year of continuous service. Unpaid absence that is excluded from service can affect whether the one-year threshold is reached.
Is a partial year included in UAE gratuity?
Yes, after the worker completes one year of continuous service. A later fraction of a year is calculated proportionally. This tool estimates the fraction from employment dates or entered decimal service years.
Does unpaid leave reduce gratuity?
Periods of absence from work without pay are not counted in the service period under Article 51. Enter only unpaid absence that should legally be excluded, not paid or protected leave.
What is the maximum UAE gratuity?
The total traditional gratuity cannot exceed two years of Wage. This calculator applies a cap of 24 months of entered total Wage, adjusted by the work proportion for part-time and job-sharing estimates.
How is part-time or job-sharing gratuity calculated?
The annual contracted hours are divided by comparable full-time annual hours. That percentage is multiplied by the gratuity value for the full-time contract. A constant weekly-hours ratio gives the same proportion.
Does this calculator cover DIFC, ADGM or the alternative savings scheme?
No. DIFC generally uses a qualifying scheme. ADGM uses its own statutory gratuity formula and may instead use a written pension or savings arrangement. The federal alternative savings system depends on fund and legacy-service records. None should be calculated with this federal tool.
When should UAE gratuity be paid?
For an ordinary contract ending, Article 53 requires wages and other entitlements within 14 days from the contract end date. If the worker dies, Article 15 uses 10 days from death or the employer becoming aware of it. A dispute or lawful deduction may need a case-specific review.
Official Sources
- UAE Legislation: Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021, Articles 15 and 51 to 53
- UAE Legislation: Cabinet Resolution No. 1 of 2022, Article 30
- Official UAE Government portal: end-of-service benefits for private-sector workers
- MOHRE: Alternative End-of-Service Benefits System
- MOHRE: worker rights and end-of-service guidance
Legal and financial disclaimer: This calculator provides an educational estimate only. It is not legal, payroll, employment, pension or financial advice and does not establish entitlement. Verify the governing jurisdiction, basic wage, continuous service, unpaid absence, employment model, scheme membership, deductions and better contractual terms with employer records, current official guidance or a qualified UAE professional.