Sources and rates
Every rule the calculators use, the official page it comes from, and the date it was last checked. The rules are those of Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021 for the UAE private sector, as read in the English text on the UAE Government portal, which is marked "This is NOT an official translation". Article numbers refer to that text.
| Item | Value | Basis and sources | Last checked |
|---|---|---|---|
| End-of-service gratuity | 21 days of basic wage for each of the first 5 years, 30 days for each year after; part years in proportion; at least 1 year of continuous service; capped at 2 years of wage; paid within 14 days of the end of the contract; unpaid absence not counted | Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021, Article 51(2) to (6); Article 53 | 2 Nov 2026 Checked against the official source |
| Conventions of this site | Day's wage = monthly basic wage ÷ 30; year of service = 365 days; hourly wage = day's wage ÷ 8 | Not stated in the Decree-Law text read; used by this site | 2 Nov 2026 Not confirmed on an official page |
| Annual leave | 30 days a year with full wage; 2 days a month when service is above 6 months and under a year; leave for the part of the last year worked; approved unpaid leave not counted as service | Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021, Article 29(1), (6); Article 33(2) | 2 Nov 2026 Checked against the official source |
| Overtime and weekend work | Overtime paid at the basic wage plus 25%; plus 50% from 10 pm to 4 am (not for shift workers); weekend work paid at the day's wage plus 50% or swapped for a day off; at most 2 overtime hours a day and 144 hours in 3 weeks | Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021, Article 17(1); Article 19(1) to (4) | 2 Nov 2026 Checked against the official source |
| Notice and termination | Notice of 30 to 90 days with full wage; notice period allowance when notice is not given; leaving without notice with end of service rights for listed employer breaches | Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021, Article 43; Articles 44 to 47; Article 50 | 2 Nov 2026 Checked against the official source |
| Free zones | DIFC replaces the end-of-service arrangement with the funded DEWS plan; ADGM has its own Employment Regulations 2024. No free zone figure is calculated | DIFC: Employee Workplace Savings (DEWS) in place of gratuity. ADGM: its own Employment Regulations 2024 | 2 Nov 2026 Not confirmed on an official page |
Not included or not confirmed
- The Executive Regulation (Cabinet Resolution No. 1 of 2022) could not be opened in this check: the MOHRE site did not respond and the UAE legislation portal blocked automated access. Anything the Regulation adds to the Decree-Law is not applied here.
- The daily wage as basic wage divided by 30, the 365-day service year and the 8-hour day used for the hourly wage are conventions of this site. Article 51 says 'a wage of 21 days' and gives no divisor.
- How a part of a year after the first year counts towards annual leave (this site uses days of service divided by 365, times 30), and how the first-year months are counted (this site uses months of 365 divided by 12 days).
- Whether the pay for unused annual leave at the end of service is worked out on the basic wage alone. Article 29 says 'full wage'; this site uses the basic wage, as for gratuity.
- Rest day work is taken as the day's wage plus 50% (Article 19(4)); how the Regulation divides the monthly wage for that day is not confirmed.
- No official worked example of the gratuity was found. The results were checked by hand and against a second, independent implementation.
- DIFC: the start date of DEWS, the employer contribution rates and the treatment of gratuity earned before DEWS were not on the DIFC page read.
- ADGM and other free zones: the ADGM end-of-service page could not be opened in this check, so no ADGM figure is given. Other free zones were not looked at.
- GPSSA pension rules for UAE and GCC nationals: Article 51(1) only refers to the pension legislation. No pension figure is given.
- Whether the Executive Regulation withholds or reduces the gratuity in any case of dismissal or resignation. Articles 44 and 51 as read contain no such clause.
- How the employer's deduction right in Article 51(7) works in practice. No deduction is modelled.
Last checked 2 November 2026. These pages are general information only. Found a difference from an official page? Tell us.