Does the gratuity calculator work for all employment areas in 2025?
Whereas our prior report generator that we offered since 2018 covered diverging nuances of DIFC, ADGM, JAFZA and DAFZA’s own labour regulations compared with the UAE Labour Law Federal Law No.8 1980 in force at the time, most freezones (with some specific exceptions for DIFC) have come into line with the new Labour Law No. 33 2021 and its amendments . So unless you have opted for an alternative to End of Service Gratuity where permitted and agreed with your employer, then the report generator should cater to practically all situations, as of 2025.
Are domestic staff such as maids/drivers due an end of service gratuity?
Article 3(2c) of the UAE Labour Law states that domestic staff are not covered by its provisions. However, they are instead currently covered by the Federal Law no. (9) of 2022 Concerning Domestic Workers which deals with end of service gratuity under Article 22. Things have changed since the prior 2017 law, please see the End of Service Gratuity Calculator for Domestic Workers page for the current situation.
Who designed this calculator, is it accurate?
This calculator was coded and compiled by DubaiHires.com, the legal interpretations were done by staff with advanced post graduate UK legal qualifications in international law at LLM level and above. Clarifications were sought with the labour department’s legal advisors where necessary as well as with professionals at the freezones that host their own jurisdictions and labour rules. Problems with existing calculators that many have relied on were highlighted to their official operators during our own analysis resulting in fixes being scheduled by them, so even if you use one of the other options our own analysis should have resulted in more accurate results for everyone. The reports do not constitute legal advice or hold any warranty as to their accuracy, they are simply a preliminary guide and any disputes between employers and employees should be taken to the relevant authorities for official clarification. Having said that we try our very best to have accurate up-to-date interpretations and to explain how they arise. If you think you have spotted an error please email eos(at)www.dubaihires.com.
Very rarely a minor difference occurs compared to the MOHRE’s own calculator, what causes this?
The MOHRE had an official calculator of their own for several years but it seems they have taken it down, there are still several impersonator sites which use government logos (prohibited under Federal Decree-Law No. (34) of 2021 on Combatting Rumours and Cybercrime). Occasionally the original official MOHRE calculator output a slightly lower gratuity reading than ours, that was because it was programmed in a basic way which rounded down, it is quite rare this altered the numbers but certain numbers of days worked showed an effect. For example if you worked 719 days, 719/365 is 1.96986 years. The MOHRE code cut 1.96986 to 2 digits after the decimal taking this as 1.96 years (which they then multiplied with your days of equivalent salary), whereas logical rounding results in 1.97. Reversing this 1.96yrs x 365 = 715.4 days so the MOHRE calculator was determining your gratuity for 715 days rather than the 719 you worked. Whereas 1.97 x 365 is 719.05 days which is the real number of days you were employed and what Dubai Hires uses in its own calculation.
As all contracts under the current Labour Law No.33 now must be fixed term post 2023 (unlimited term contracts are a thing of the past) do I need to give notice?
If terminating it early then yes. A minimum of 30 days and upto 90 if specified in your contract (Article 43). If you or your employer don’t provide each other with correct notice then “notice period allowance” compensation is due as outlined in our reports and Article 43(3).
If my fixed term contract is extended or renewed but has some new terms, is my service for gratuity considered as continuing?
Article 8 (4), deals with this. Yes it will be added as continuous service for the purpose of calculating the total term of service.
How long do I need to work before my gratuity stops getting any bigger?
Check out our dedicated article on that.
Are part-time, temporary, and job-sharing workers entitled to end of service gratuity under UAE Labour Law?
Yes, under Article 30 of the Implementing Regulations for Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021, part-time and job-sharing workers are entitled to end-of-service benefits, calculated proportionally to their working hours. The formula used is:
(Contracted working hours per year ÷ full-time working hours per year) × 100 = percentage of gratuity entitlement, which is then multiplied by the gratuity amount applicable for a full-time worker. Temporary workers are not entitled to gratuity if their contract duration is less than one year.
For more details, visit: UAE Labour Law Implementing Regulations.
(Related to Old Labour Law left here for context) The MOHRE calculator (as at Nov 2018) says I am due a gratuity if I resign in my first 5 years giving notice on a renewed limited contract is this true?
We noticed this anomaly and having checked this with the legal advisors at the MOHRE, they say it is a coded error in their calculator which is now flagged to be fixed. If you resign within your first 5 years on a limited/renewed-limited (determined term) contract you are due no gratuity, as stated under Articles 138 & 139(b).
(Related to old Labour Law left here for context) Some legal websites and lawyers say if I am terminated under Article 88 that I lose my gratuity?
Article 88 is considered by several legal firms to be termination for gross misconduct ‘for cause’, where an employer establishes that an employee worked for another employer during annual leave or sick leave and it provides the right to terminate that employee without notice. As a result they say it will result in loss of gratuity similar to being terminated for one of the reasons in Article 120 where this is certainly the case – Article 139(a) specifically mentions a loss of gratuity if terminated for a reason listed in Article 120. It doesn’t however mention Article 88. Having consulted with the MOHRE legal advisors who then confirmed at a higher level, Article 88 does not specifically mention loss of gratuity, only the loss of wages during the leave period, so it should be interpreted that gratuity is still due. If this is likely to affect you it may be worth seeking official clarification or a ruling on this, as there are opposing views and local lawyers seem to be repeating each other without justification.
(Related to old Labour Law left here for context) I heard DAFZA (Dubai Airport Freezone) has its own rules on gratuity?
While DAFZA has its own employment contracts it follows the UAE Labour law regarding gratuity calculations, as confirmed with them in November 2018 and stated under their standard employment contract at section “5. – End of Service” It is possible to be employed there on either a limited term or unlimited term contract. We confirmed with them that should an employee on a limited term contract resign prior to 5 years of service there they will be due no gratuity and would also owe the employer upto 45 days of gross salary compensation (in line with Article 116 of the UAE Labour Law). As DAFZA operates in the same way as the mainland UAE Labor Law the DubaiHires.com calculator will correctly output gratuity dues as standard. Some prominent law firms in the UAE are under the impression that scaled gratuities on unlimited contracts for under five years of service when resigning do not exist in DAFZA, which is outdated information. Their published scaling is available to see on pages 22 & 23 here. NOTE: As of 2025 DAFZA
(Related to old Labour Law left here for context) I thought I didn’t need to serve notice to resign from a fixed term contract?
As of the Minister of Labour’s Decree 765 of 2015 on The Termination of Employment Relations, Article (1) I 4 applies regarding notice for limited term contracts where: – Either party (employer or worker) acts unilaterally to terminate a renewed term contract, whether renewal has occurred before or after this decree enters into effect, provided the terminating party complies with the following legal steps: a. Notify the other party in writing of its intent to terminate the contract in accordance with the notice period to be agreed to by the two parties, not to be less than one month and not to exceed three months. If renewal occurred before this decree enters into effect and the parties had not agreed to a notice period, this notice period shall be three months. b. Continue to honor his/her contractual obligations for the duration of the notice period. c. Indemnify the other party to the level that was agreed to by both parties, not to exceed the equivalent of three months of gross wages. If renewal occurred before this decree enters into effect and the parties had not agreed to the amount of indemnification, this indemnification shall be the equivalent of three months of gross wages. Under DAFZA employment contracts in Section 4.A.i it states prior written notice for termination is not applicable to limited term contracts. Under Jafza rules 11.8.1(d) notice of intention not to renew is required before a limited term contract is considered terminated at expiry.
(Related to old Labour Law left here for context) If I resign early from a fixed term contract how much compensation could I owe my employer? Up to 45 days as the Labour Law says or 3 months as Decree 765 says?
The UAE Labour Law says: Article 116 – As amended by Federal Law no. 12 dated 29/10/1986: Should the contract be rescinded by the worker for causes not set forth in Article 121, the worker shall be bound to compensate the employer for the loss incurred thereto by reason of the rescission of the contract, provided that the amount of compensation does not exceed the wage of half a month for the period of three months, or for the remaining period of the contract, whichever is shorter, unless otherwise stipulated in the contract. The Decree 765 of 2015 says: Article (1) I 4 – c. Indemnify the other party to the level that was agreed to by both parties, not to exceed the equivalent of three months of gross wages. If renewal occurred before this decree enters into effect and the parties had not agreed to the amount of indemnification, this indemnification shall be the equivalent of three months of gross wages. The legal MOHRE advisors say they have not been updated on this and it would require clarification from the labor courts. When questioned if the Labor law prevails on such a conflict with the decree as indicated in this article by a local law firm, the same view was not apparent. The author of that article did not respond for request for comment. If this issue affects you it may be worth seeking a ruling rather than a law firm’s opinion.
(Related to old Labour Law left here for context) In DAFZA, if I continue to work past my limited term contract expiry date without formal renewal, is it then automatically a unlimited term contract?
According to DAFZA, if an employee on a limited term contract continues working past its standard expiry date and no formal renewal procedure has been conducted, then the contract automatically converts into an unlimited term contract. This is in line with Article 39- 3 and Article 113 (implicitly extended) of the UAE Labour Law. However, the Decree 765 of 2015 Article (1) I 1. seemingly states on English translation that the employment relationship between employer and worker is terminated upon expiry if it is not renewed, but it is unclear whether it caters to implied extensions or only explicit extensions.
I don’t see my question, is there someone I can contact?
This calculator is proving very popular and while many people have unique situations we do try to answer queries where time permits but we don’t offer legal advice. We are also interested to hear if you have had a problem with the calculator or think you have spotted an error, be it a spelling mistake or an interpretation, for all enquiries in this regard please email eos(at)www.dubaihires.com
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