How to Estimate Your UAE End-of-Service Gratuity in Under a Minute
Reviewed by the FreeOnline.fyi team · Updated 2026-09-09
When we built this calculator, the question we kept asking ourselves was: how do
When we built this calculator, the question we kept asking ourselves was: how do you turn a labor law that runs across multiple slabs, reductions, and caps into something a salaried employee can answer in 30 seconds? Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021 replaced the older 1980 framework, and while the headline rates are the same — 21 days of basic salary per year for the first five years, 30 days per year after that — the rules around resignation, limited contracts, and the two-year wage cap catch people out every week. The UAE End-of-Service Gratuity Calculator was designed to make the math transparent, not just the number.
Let's start with the framework, because once you see the skeleton, every input on the tool makes sense. Your gratuity is built on your **basic salary** — not your total package — and the daily wage is calculated as basic salary divided by 30. For each full year of service you earn either 21 or 30 days of that daily wage, depending on which slab you land in. The first five years always sit in the 21-day band, and every year after that sits in the 30-day band. The total is then capped at two years of basic salary; once you cross that ceiling, the calculation simply stops growing. You can read the exact wording on the UAE Government portal, which is also where the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation publishes its own guidance.
Using the tool itself is a four-step job and it runs entirely in your browser, s
Using the tool itself is a four-step job and it runs entirely in your browser, so nothing is sent to a server. First, enter your **monthly basic salary in AED** — leave out allowances, housing, and bonuses, because the law is explicit that only basic counts. Second, type your **completed years of service** and any extra months in the separate field (months are converted to a fraction of a year behind the scenes). Third, pick your **reason for leaving** from the dropdown: termination, resignation, or end of a limited contract. Finally, if you chose resignation, add your years of service at the point of resignation so the tool knows which reduction factor to apply. The estimated amount appears on the right in under 100ms, with a day-by-day breakdown table beneath it so you can see exactly how the figure was built.
The piece most people underestimate is how different the answer looks depending on **why** you leave. Termination for any lawful reason — including redundancy under Article 49 of the new law — pays the full entitlement. Resignation is where the reduction factors come in. If you resign before completing one year, the gratuity is zero. Between one and three years you receive one-third of the 21-day rate; between three and five years, two-thirds; only after five continuous years do you get the full first-slab rate, and the 30-day band kicks in on top. End of a limited contract is treated like termination, which is why that option exists in the dropdown. We tested the four scenarios that cover most real-world cases — five-year termination, ten-year termination, two-year resignation, and seven-year resignation — against hand-calculated reference values, and the tool matched to the fils each time.
A worked example makes this concrete.
A worked example makes this concrete. Take a basic salary of AED 12,000 with seven years of service, leaving by termination. The first five years produce 5 × 21 × (12,000 ÷ 30) = AED 42,000. The remaining two years produce 2 × 30 × 400 = AED 24,000. Total: AED 66,000, well under the two-year cap of AED 288,000 (24 months × AED 12,000). Now change the reason to resignation with the same numbers. The first five years are still paid in full at AED 42,000 because you have crossed the five-year threshold, and the two extra years add AED 24,000 — the same total. But try that with a two-year tenure and resignation: only one-third of the 21-day rate applies, so you get 2 × 7 × 400 = AED 5,600 instead of AED 11,200. The tool's side-by-side comparison panel exists precisely so you can watch that delta update as you toggle reasons.
A few honest limitations worth flagging. The calculator assumes continuous, uninterrupted service on a single unlimited contract — if you have had multiple contracts with different employers, each period is calculated separately. It also does not handle partial-month pro-rating beyond the years-plus-months split; the law is silent on the day-level math and most employers settle on full months. Finally, this is an estimator for personal planning, not a legal document — if the figure will affect a visa change, a labor complaint, or a large financial decision, confirm the breakdown with HR or the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation before acting on it. For anything else, the tool is a fast, defensible way to put an AED figure next to a job decision. While you're at it, you may also find our other free online tools handy for the kind of everyday calculations that come up around a career move, from password hygiene to mortgage planning once the new salary lands.