Finance · salary & benefits
Estimate UAE end-of-service gratuity using the 21/30-day formula from Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021, capped at two years' basic salary.
Who this is for: UAE end-of-service gratuity under Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021.
Basic wage only — excludes housing, transport, and other allowances.
Total continuous service. Use a decimal for partial years, e.g. 6.5 for 6 years 6 months.
Gratuity Payable
AED 36,000
Estimated end-of-service lump sum.
Formula verified 16 August 2026
Daily Basic Wage
AED 266.67
Statutory Cap
AED 192,000
2 years' salary
Employed in India instead? Use the India gratuity calculator — the Payment of Gratuity Act pays 15 days per year on a 26-day divisor, which produces a different figure.
Formula shown · assumptions stated.
Updated 16 August 2026 · Runs entirely in your browser
UAE end-of-service gratuity pays a rising rate the longer you stay. The first five years accrue at 21 days of basic wage per year; every year after that accrues at 30 days per year, capped at two years' salary overall.
Four steps, in the order the calculator runs them: daily wage, uncapped accrual at the two rates, the statutory ceiling, then whichever of the last two is lower.
Daily basic wage
Daily Wage = Monthly Basic Salary ÷ 30Gratuity (uncapped)
Daily Wage × 21 × Years (first 5) + Daily Wage × 30 × Years beyond 5Statutory cap
Cap = Monthly Basic Salary × 24Two years' basic salary.
Gratuity payable
Gratuity = min(Uncapped, Cap)The law pays 21 days of wages per year for the first five years of service, then 30 days for every year beyond that. On an AED 10,000 monthly basic salary the daily wage is 10,000 ÷ 30 = AED 333.33, so a fifth year adds 333.33 × 21 = AED 7,000 and a sixth adds 333.33 × 30 = AED 10,000 — AED 3,000 more for the same year of work. Eight years is about AED 35,000 for the first five plus AED 30,000 for the rest: AED 65,000 payable.
Total gratuity cannot exceed two years’ basic salary, and this calculator applies that cap automatically — but in months of basic pay the ceiling sits further out than most people expect. Past year five the payout in months is simply your years of service minus 1.5, so eight years is 6.5 months and the 24-month cap only binds at 25.5 years of service. The AED 240,000 ceiling on an AED 10,000 basic salary never touches the AED 65,000 payable at eight years. Nothing is withheld either: the UAE has no personal income tax, so gratuity is not taxed for most private-sector employees, though cross-border workers should confirm their home country’s treatment.
Your monthly basic salary is divided by 30 to get the daily wage, and only the basic component counts — housing, transport, and other allowances are excluded. So the split inside your package matters more than its headline. After eight years, AED 10,000 that is all basic pays 6.5 × 10,000 = AED 65,000; AED 6,000 basic plus AED 4,000 of allowances pays AED 39,000. Enter the basic figure from your contract.
Employees who complete at least one full year of continuous service with the same employer are eligible, whether employment ends by resignation, termination, or contract expiry; the calculator assumes that first year is done. Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021 — the UAE Labour Law, effective 2 February 2022, whose Article 51 supplies the 21/30-day formula used here per MOHRE guidance — removed the limited/unlimited contract distinction and the reduced gratuity for early resignation with it. Resigning at eight years now pays the same AED 65,000 as being dismissed at eight.
Free zones such as DIFC and ADGM can run separate end-of-service schemes — DIFC’s workplace savings plan is the best known — instead of the standard gratuity formula, so the figure above may not describe your entitlement at all. Confirm your free zone’s rules before relying on this estimate. Two limitations sit inside the standard scheme too: the tool applies the 2-year statutory cap but does not account for unpaid leave, disciplinary deductions, or an employer’s voluntary savings scheme that may replace gratuity entirely, and it cannot read your contract.
The 21/30-day formula, the five-year threshold, and the two-year statutory cap come directly from UAE labour law.
Gratuity disclaimer
In the UAE, end-of-service gratuity is governed by Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021 and MOHRE guidance, and all amounts here are in UAE dirhams (AED). Free zones such as DIFC and ADGM may apply different schemes — confirm your employer’s specific terms and the current rules with MOHRE or a qualified HR/legal professional before relying on this estimate.
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Published 16 August 2026