end of service calculator dubai

End of Service Calculator Dubai: How to Calculate Your Gratuity in 2025

If you're leaving a job in Dubai and trying to work out what you're owed, an end of service calculator Dubai gives you a ballpark — but the real number depends on which contract you're on, why you're leaving, and whether your employer has been paying into the new savings scheme.

Quick answer

Under UAE Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021, your end of service gratuity is 21 days' basic salary per year for the first 5 years, then 30 days' basic salary per year after that, capped at 2 years' total pay. Only basic salary counts — allowances don't. Any end of service calculator Dubai you find online should use this formula. If you resign before completing 1 year, you get nothing. DIFC employees follow a separate regime (DEWS).^[1][2]

The formula every end of service calculator Dubai uses

Here's the math behind the tools.

Take your last basic monthly salary. Divide by 30 to get your daily basic. Multiply by 21 for each of your first 5 years of service. Then multiply by 30 for each year beyond that. Add a pro-rata amount for any partial final year.

Example: 7 years of service, AED 15,000 basic salary.

• Daily basic: 15,000 ÷ 30 = AED 500
• First 5 years: 500 × 21 × 5 = AED 52,500
• Years 6 and 7: 500 × 30 × 2 = AED 30,000
• Total gratuity: AED 82,500

Allowances — housing, transport, phone — are excluded. This catches people out constantly. If your total package is AED 25,000 but your basic is AED 10,000, your gratuity is built on the AED 10,000. Check your offer letter.^[1]

Limited vs unlimited contracts — and why it stopped mattering

Since the 2022 reforms took effect, all private-sector contracts in the UAE are fixed-term. The old "unlimited contract" rules — where resigning early slashed your gratuity by two-thirds or a third — are gone for new and renewed contracts.^[2]

So if you completed at least 1 year and you're on a post-2022 contract, you get the full statutory entitlement regardless of whether you resigned or were terminated (unless you were dismissed for gross misconduct under Article 44 of the Labour Law).

If you're still sitting on a pre-2022 unlimited contract that was never converted — rare now, but it happens — the old reduction rules may still apply to service accrued before conversion. Frankly, most calculators ignore this nuance. Check with a lawyer if your service straddles the reform date and the number is meaningful.

Watch out: Unpaid leave doesn't count toward your service period. Neither does any period you were on a no-pay sabbatical. The calculator assumes continuous paid service.

DIFC and the savings scheme exception

If you work in the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), forget the federal formula. Since February 2020, DIFC employers must contribute monthly to the DIFC Employee Workplace Savings Plan (DEWS) — 5.83% of basic salary for the first 5 years of service, 8.33% after.^[3]

You take whatever's in your DEWS account when you leave. No 2-year cap. No 21-day vs 30-day distinction. An end of service calculator Dubai built for the mainland will give you the wrong answer if you're DIFC.

A similar voluntary scheme exists for the rest of the UAE under Cabinet Resolution No. 96 of 2023 — the Alternative End of Service Benefits System — but participation is opt-in for most employers. If your employer enrolled you, your gratuity comes from the fund, not a lump-sum calculation.^[4]

Where calculators get it wrong

In my experience, the free calculators floating around miss three things:

Unpaid wages and leave balance. Your final settlement isn't just gratuity. It includes unused annual leave (calculated on basic + housing under Article 29), notice pay if you weren't asked to work it, and any unpaid commission. Tools that show "gratuity only" undersell what you should chase.

The 14-day deadline. Your employer must pay everything owed within 14 days of your last working day. Miss it and you can file with the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation (MOHRE) — the federal labour regulator. Most clients don't know this clock exists.^[2]

Gross misconduct dismissals. If you're terminated under Article 44 (theft, false identity, assault, repeated unauthorised absence, etc.), you lose gratuity entirely. No calculator flags this — and employers sometimes invoke it incorrectly to avoid paying. If that's your situation, get advice before signing the final settlement.

What to do if your employer disputes the number

File a complaint with MOHRE. It's free. Call 600 590 000 or use the MOHRE app. They'll mediate within roughly 14 days. If no settlement, the file moves to the Labour Court — and labour claims under AED 50,000 are now heard by a dedicated chamber with no court fees for the employee.^[2]

Bring your contract, payslips for the last 6 months, your resignation or termination letter, and your own calculation. Don't show up empty-handed expecting the inspector to do the math.

Need this checked for your situation? Talk to a UAE-licensed lawyer →

Citations

^[1] UAE Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021 on the Regulation of Employment Relations, Articles 51 and 52. https://uaelegislation.gov.ae

^[2] Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation — End of Service Benefits. https://www.mohre.gov.ae

^[3] DIFC Employment Law (DIFC Law No. 2 of 2019), Article 66, and DEWS Plan. https://www.difc.ae/business/operating/employment/dews

^[4] UAE Cabinet Resolution No. 96 of 2023 on the Alternative End of Service Benefits System. https://uaelegislation.gov.ae