Do not include housing, transport, or any other allowances. Basic salary only.
You can use decimals. Less than one year means no gratuity entitlement under UAE law.
This is an estimate based on UAE Labour Law (Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021). For educational purposes only. Consult a licensed UAE advisor for your specific situation.
The 2026 Guide to UAE Gratuity: What You Are Owed and How to Check It
1. How is gratuity calculated in the UAE in 2026?
Our end-of-service gratuity in the UAE is calculated on our basic salary, using either a 21-day or a 30-day rate depending on how long we have worked for our employer.
When the time comes to leave a job we have given several years to, one question rises before everything else: how much gratuity am I owed? The mechanics behind the answer are simpler than they sound. For the first five years of service, we receive 21 days of basic salary for each year worked. Once we cross five years, every additional year earns us 30 days of basic salary.
So if we have worked seven years, we calculate the first five years at the 21-day rate and the remaining two years at the 30-day rate, then add the two results together to reach the final number.
One important limit to remember: our total gratuity cannot exceed two years of our full basic salary, regardless of how long we have worked.
This calculation method is set by Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021, the law governing private sector employment in the UAE today. If anyone is quoting us a different method, they are most likely still applying the old 1980 Labour Law, which is no longer in force.
2. Does resignation reduce your gratuity in the UAE?
No, under the current UAE labour law, resignation does not reduce our gratuity entitlement.
This is one of the most misunderstood aspects of end-of-service benefits in the country, and the confusion is not random. Under the old 1980 labour law, anyone who resigned was penalised for resigning. Depending on how many years we had served, we would receive only a fraction of our full gratuity, in some cases as little as one third. For decades this rule created a strong financial disincentive for anyone leaving a job voluntarily.
Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021 removed that penalty entirely.
The problem is that many online calculators are still working off the old rules, and so are many employers. If we have resigned and our employer has applied the old resignation reductions, we have grounds to dispute the amount through MOHRE.
3. What counts as basic salary for gratuity?
Only our basic salary is used to calculate gratuity. None of the allowances that make up our total package are counted.
The difference between basic salary and total salary in the UAE can be significant. Many employers structure compensation so that the basic salary is a relatively small portion of what we actually take home each month, with the rest paid as allowances such as housing, transport, and other components. Because gratuity is calculated on the basic figure alone, the final number can land noticeably lower than what we may have been expecting.
To protect ourselves, we need to refer to our employment contract or salary certificate, find the basic salary number, and enter only that amount into any gratuity calculator we use.
What we earn each month and what our gratuity works out to be are two different things, and it is worth knowing the difference before we have the conversation with HR.
4. When is gratuity paid, and what if your employer delays it?
Our gratuity must be paid within 14 days of our last working day.
This is a legal requirement under UAE employment law, and it applies whether we have resigned, been terminated, or simply reached the end of a fixed-term contract. The 14-day window begins on the date our employment officially ended.
If the payment does not arrive within this period, the first step is to write to HR in writing, referencing the termination date and the legal time frame. A written record matters here, because it becomes part of the case if the matter goes further.
If the issue is not resolved through HR, the next step is to file a complaint with the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation, known as MOHRE. This can be done through their website, their app, or by visiting one of their service centres.
5. How can you check if your employer is calculating your gratuity correctly?
The simplest way is to run the calculation ourselves using the calculator on this page, entering our basic salary as shown on our contract or salary certificate.
The calculator follows the formula set by Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021, the law currently in force. If there is a gap between the number we get and the number our employer has offered, the gap usually comes from one of three places: the employer has used our total salary instead of our basic salary, they have applied the old resignation reduction, or they have miscounted our years of service.
If we find a discrepancy, the first step is to raise it with HR in writing and ask for the calculation breakdown. If the matter is not resolved, we can escalate it to MOHRE.
A small note worth remembering: gratuity is a legal entitlement, not a favour. The clearer we are about the number, the easier it is to have the conversation.