UAE compliance · Federal Decree-Law 33/2021
End-of-service gratuity under Article 51 of Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021. Twenty-one days' basic pay per year for the first five years, thirty days per year after that, capped at two years' basic salary.
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Estimated gratuity
AED 55,054.79
An estimate for planning, not a legal determination. Article 51, Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021.
An estimate for planning, not a legal determination. Figures depend on how basic wage is defined in your contract and on facts this form does not capture.
What the law says
An employee who completes one year or more of continuous service is entitled to end-of-service gratuity on the basic wage. The first five years accrue at twenty-one days per year; each year beyond five accrues at thirty. Partial years are pro-rated, unpaid leave is excluded from the service period, and the total may not exceed two years' basic salary.
Part-time employees accrue on the same bands, reduced in proportion to their contracted hours against comparable full-time hours, under Article 30 of Cabinet Resolution No. 1 of 2022.
This calculator models the statutory position. What counts as service, how basic wage is defined in edge cases, and the voluntary Savings Scheme that can replace accrual entirely are set out on the reference page.
UAE end-of-service: the full reference →Basic wage
Counts
Does not count
Article 1 defines basic wage as the wage stated in the contract, excluding any other allowance or benefit in kind. Commissions and bonuses are not expressly settled by the decree, so their treatment turns on the contract.
Where a contract states a gross package without splitting out basic wage, that split has to be established before any figure is reliable.
What most calculators get wrong
01
Under the repealed 1980 law an employee who resigned before completing five years received one third or two thirds of their gratuity. That rule is gone. Since Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021 took effect, an employee who resigns is entitled to the same gratuity as one whose contract is terminated.
Any calculator that still asks whether you resigned, or offers a limited and unlimited contract choice, is computing the repealed 1980 law.
02
Article 53 requires the employer to pay the worker their remuneration and all other entitlements within 14 days of the contract ending. Gratuity is not something that waits on a final reconciliation months later.
03
Both financial free zones operate their own employment law, and the DIFC replaced end-of-service gratuity with a funded workplace savings scheme. This calculator covers onshore UAE only. If your entity is registered in DIFC or ADGM, none of the figures above apply.
HCM-UAE accrues end-of-service month by month into the general ledger, so the balance sheet carries what the company already owes. Calculating it on the way out is how a provision becomes a surprise.