Use this calculator to estimate the end of service gratuity a private-sector worker earns in Saudi Arabia or the UAE. Saudi law pays half a month's actual wage for each of the first five years and a full month for every later year, reduced on resignation. UAE law pays 21 days' basic wage a year, then 30, without a cut for resigning.

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The guide is for employees of private companies in either country, Saudi or expatriate, and for the HR and payroll staff who check a final settlement. Have four things ready: your first day of work and your last working day, your last monthly pay split into basic salary and fixed allowances, how the job ended if you work in Saudi Arabia, and any days of unpaid absence if you work in the UAE. The two laws differ on three points that move the result a lot: which part of the pay counts, how many days each year earns, and whether resigning costs you anything.

How is the end of service award calculated in Saudi Arabia?

Article 84 of the Saudi Labor Law sets the award at half a month's wage for each of the first five years of service and one month's wage for each later year. The last wage received is the basis, and fractions of a year are paid in proportion to the time worked. The wage here is the actual wage: Article 2 defines it as the basic wage plus the other increments due to the worker, including commission, allowances paid for effort or risk, cost-of-living increases and bonuses. The calculator adds the basic salary and the fixed monthly allowances you enter, such as housing and transport, as increments due under that definition. If your contract counts an allowance differently, enter only what it counts.

Monthly wage used = basic salary + housing + transport + other fixed allowances
Full award = (half the monthly wage × years up to 5) + (the monthly wage × years after 5)

How the job ended then decides how much of that full award you receive. Article 85 pays nothing when a worker resigns with less than two years of continuous service, one third from two to five years, two thirds above five and under ten years, and the full award from ten years. Article 87 restores the full award when a worker leaves because of force majeure, and for a female worker who ends her contract within six months of marriage or three months of giving birth. Article 81 lets a worker leave without notice and keep every statutory right when the employer breaches the contract in the cases it lists.

Two cases pay no award at all. A worker dismissed under Article 80, for example for being absent without a legitimate reason for more than thirty days in one contractual year, loses it. So does a contract ended during probation: Article 54 says the worker is not entitled to an end-of-service award for that period.

Article 88 sets the payment deadline: one week from the end of the relationship when the employer ends it, and two weeks when the worker does. The employer may deduct a work debt the worker owes. A claim must reach the labor courts within twelve months of the end of the relationship under Article 234.

How is gratuity calculated in the UAE?

Article 51 of Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021 gives a full-time foreign worker who has completed one year or more of continuous service a gratuity worked out on the basic wage: 21 days' wage for each of the first five years and 30 days' wage for each year after that. Parts of a year count in proportion once the first year is complete. Days of absence without pay are left out of the service, and Article 33 also keeps unpaid leave out of the period of service. The basis is the last basic wage, and the total may not exceed two years' wage. The employer may deduct amounts due by law or by a judgment. A national worker is paid under the pensions and social security legislation instead.

Daily basic wage = monthly basic salary ÷ 30 (or × 12 ÷ 365)
Gratuity = (21 × daily basic wage × years up to 5) + (30 × daily basic wage × years after 5), at most two years' basic wage

Article 51 does not say how to turn a monthly salary into a day's wage. Dividing the monthly basic salary by 30 is the usual method and the calculator's default; some employers use the annual basic salary divided by 365, so the calculator offers both. Article 53 requires the employer to pay the wages and all other entitlements within fourteen days of the end of the contract.

Article 51 has no reduction for resigning, but notice still matters. Under Article 43 the notice period agreed in the contract runs from 30 to 90 days, and the party who does not work it out owes the other a notice period allowance. That allowance can reach your final settlement through the employer's right to deduct amounts due by law. Free zones can add rules of their own: the Dubai Development Authority free zone, for example, applies its 2004 Employment Regulations alongside the federal law.

Worked examples

Each figure below comes from the calculator above with the inputs shown. Service runs from the first day of work to the last working day, both included.

Example 1: Saudi Arabia, the contract ends after 8 years

Faisal started on 1 January 2018 and his fixed-term contract ended without renewal on 31 December 2025, so he served exactly 8 years. His last pay was a basic salary of SAR 8,000, housing of SAR 2,000 and transport of SAR 800, which makes a monthly wage of SAR 10,800. The first five years earn half of SAR 10,800 each: SAR 27,000. The three later years earn the full SAR 10,800 each: 3 × 10,800 = SAR 32,400. His award is SAR 59,400, all of it, because the contract simply ran out.

Example 2: Saudi Arabia, resigning after 4 years

Noura joined on 1 January 2022 and her resignation took effect on 31 December 2025, after exactly 4 years. Her pay was a basic salary of SAR 7,000, housing of SAR 1,750 and transport of SAR 700, a monthly wage of SAR 9,450. The full award would be half of SAR 9,450 for each of the 4 years: SAR 18,900. Because she resigned with between two and five years of service, Article 85 gives her one third: 18,900 ÷ 3 = SAR 6,300.

Example 3: UAE, 4 years on a basic salary of AED 12,000

Arjun started in Dubai on 1 March 2022 on a fixed-term contract and left on 28 February 2026, after exactly 4 years without unpaid leave. His total package was larger, but only the basic salary of AED 12,000 counts. His daily basic wage is 12,000 ÷ 30 = AED 400. Four years at 21 days each come to 84 days, and 84 × 400 = AED 33,600. The two-year cap for his salary is 24 × 12,000 = AED 288,000, far above this. He receives AED 33,600 whether he resigned or the employer ended the contract.

Example 4: UAE, unpaid leave and the 365-day method

Maria worked in Abu Dhabi from 1 June 2022 to 31 May 2026 on a basic salary of AED 9,000 and took 20 days of unpaid leave in that time. Her employer works out the daily wage as the annual basic salary divided by 365, which gives AED 295.89. Her 20 unpaid days come off her service, which leaves 3.9452 years, and her gratuity is AED 24,514.32. With the divide-by-30 method her daily wage would be AED 300 and her gratuity AED 24,854.79, so the method alone moves her final figure by AED 340.47. Her cap is AED 216,000.

Find your case

Your situationSaudi ArabiaUAE
Contract ends or the employer ends itFull award (Article 84)Full gratuity after one year (Article 51)
You resign with under 2 yearsNothing (Article 85)Nothing under 1 year; full gratuity from 1 year
You resign with 2 to 5 yearsOne third (Article 85)Full gratuity
You resign with over 5 and under 10 yearsTwo thirds (Article 85)Full gratuity
You resign with 10 years or moreFull award (Article 85)Full gratuity, within the two-year cap
Force majeure, or a woman within 6 months of marriage or 3 months of birthFull award (Article 87)Full gratuity
Dismissed for misconductNothing in the Article 80 casesCheck with the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation
Contract ends during probationNothing for that period (Article 54)Nothing under 1 year

When does the calculator need a closer look?

  • Commission and piece-rate pay in Saudi Arabia. Article 86 allows the contract to leave all or some commission and sales percentages out of the wage used for the award. Where the whole wage is commission or piece-rate, Article 96 uses an average instead of the last month. Enter the figure your contract says counts.
  • Resigning from an indefinite contract in Saudi Arabia. Since the 2025 amendments, Article 2 defines resignation as the worker ending a fixed-term contract. A Saudi worker on an indefinite contract ends it with notice under Article 75, and whether the resignation thirds of Article 85 still apply there is a question to put to the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development.
  • Service on an old indefinite contract in the UAE. Article 68 required employers to convert indefinite contracts to fixed-term ones, and also lets the employer calculate the gratuity under the indefinite-term provisions of Federal Law No. 8 of 1980. The text does not say how this applies to someone whose contract was converted and who then resigns. If your service began on such a contract, check before relying on the result.
  • Hijri dates. Article 10 of the Saudi law counts its periods on the Hijri calendar unless the contract or the work regulations say otherwise. The calculator counts Gregorian dates, so a worker close to the two, five or ten year line should check the date both ways.

Common mistakes

  • Using the total package in the UAE. Housing and transport are part of the package but not of the basic wage. Entering the total package overstates the gratuity.
  • Using only the basic salary in Saudi Arabia. The Saudi award runs on the actual wage, so leaving out fixed allowances understates it.
  • Assuming resigning costs nothing in Saudi Arabia, or something in the UAE. The thirds of Article 85 apply only under Saudi law. Article 51 has no resignation reduction.
  • Counting unpaid leave in the UAE. Unpaid absence and unpaid leave come off the service before the gratuity is worked out, as Example 4 shows.
  • Waiting too long to claim. In Saudi Arabia a claim must be filed within twelve months of the end of the relationship.

Frequently asked questions

Part of it, depending on your service. Article 85 pays nothing under two years, one third from two to five years, two thirds above five and under ten years, and the full award from ten years. Article 87 keeps the full award for force majeure and for the marriage and childbirth cases it lists.
Yes, once you have completed one year of continuous service. Article 51 works out the gratuity the same way whatever the reason the contract ended. Check the result if your service began on an indefinite contract, because Article 68 lets the employer use the old law's provisions for those.
It depends on the country. The UAE uses the last basic wage only. Saudi Arabia uses the actual wage, the basic wage plus the increments Article 2 lists, so fixed allowances usually count.
In Saudi Arabia, one week when the employer ends the contract and two weeks when the worker does (Article 88). In the UAE, fourteen days from the end of the contract (Article 53).
In the UAE the total may not exceed two years' wage. Article 84 of the Saudi law sets no such cap, so the award keeps growing with each year of service.

A shorter version of this guide is available in Arabic: حساب مكافأة نهاية الخدمة في السعودية والإمارات.

Related guides

Sources

This calculator gives an estimate for general information and is not legal advice. Your final amount depends on your contract and the facts of your case. For an official answer in Saudi Arabia, contact the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development; in the UAE, the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation; or ask an employment lawyer. Read how we check our figures in the editorial policy.

Rules checked against the official text on 4 November 2026.