Salary Calculator: Convert Monthly Pay to Hourly in Saudi and UAE

This calculator converts a monthly salary into an hourly, daily, weekly and annual figure for workers in Saudi Arabia and the UAE. The hourly result depends on the hours you really work. Both laws cap normal hours at 8 a day or 48 a week, and both shorten them in Ramadan: for Muslim workers in Saudi Arabia, and by two hours a day in the UAE.

Calculator

Use it when you compare a job offer quoted by the hour with one quoted by the month, or when you budget an annual package. It is not the base for overtime pay, which each country works out its own way, as explained below. You need four inputs: the pay and the period it is quoted for, your hours per day and your working days per week. The deductions box is for anything taken out of every payslip; leave it at 0 to see the gross figures. The currency only changes the labels, so the same arithmetic works in riyals, dirhams or any of the other currencies listed.

How do you convert a monthly salary to an hourly rate?

The calculator turns every figure into an annual amount first, because a month does not hold a fixed number of working days. A monthly salary is multiplied by 12. The year has 52 weeks, so the working hours in a year are 52 times your weekly hours, and your weekly hours are your days per week times your hours per day. The hourly rate is the annual pay divided by those hours. The weekly figure is the annual pay divided by 52, and the pay per working day is the weekly figure divided by your working days.

Annual pay = monthly pay × 12
Hours a year = 52 × days per week × hours per day
Hourly rate = annual pay ÷ hours a year
Pay per working day = annual pay ÷ (52 × days per week)

The same steps run backwards for an hourly offer: hourly pay times the hours in a year gives the annual figure, and dividing by 12 gives the month. Because the result rests on the hours you enter, a 5-day week and a 6-day week on the same salary give very different hourly rates, as the worked examples show.

What working hours do Saudi and UAE law allow?

In Saudi Arabia, Article 98 of the Labor Law says a worker shall not work more than eight actual hours a day where the employer uses the daily standard, or more than forty-eight hours a week where it uses the weekly standard. During Ramadan the hours of Muslim workers are reduced to no more than six a day or thirty-six a week, and the Ministry's awareness guide repeats that the daily hours fall to 6 in Ramadan. Article 99 lets the Minister raise the day to nine hours for some categories of workers, or lower it to seven in hazardous work. Article 104 makes Friday the weekly rest day, on full pay and for at least twenty-four consecutive hours, though the employer may move it to another day for some workers after notifying the Labor Office.

In the UAE, Article 17 of Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021 sets the maximum normal hours at eight a day or forty-eight a week. The Cabinet may raise or lower daily hours for some sectors or categories of workers. The Implementing Regulation reduces the normal working hours by two hours a day during Ramadan, without limiting this to Muslim workers. The time spent commuting between home and work does not count as working time, except in the cases the Implementing Regulation lists, such as weather warnings or an accident on the employer's transport. Many employers in both countries contract for fewer hours than the legal maximum, so the figure to enter is the one in your contract, not the cap.

What is the hourly rate used for?

The calculator's hourly figure spreads a year's pay over a year's hours, which is the fair way to compare an hourly offer with a monthly one or to budget. Overtime is worked out differently, and the two countries differ.

In Saudi Arabia, Article 107 says the employer pays for each overtime hour the hourly wage plus 50% of the basic wage. The Ministry's awareness guide explains that overtime pay is calculated on the actual wage plus 50% of the basic hourly wage, and that allowances such as housing and transport are not part of the basic wage unless the contract or the work regulations say so. Its worked example divides the monthly wage by 30 days and then by 8 hours: an actual wage of 6,000 riyals gives 25 riyals an hour, a basic wage of 4,000 riyals gives 16.67 riyals an hour, and each overtime hour pays 25 plus half of 16.67, which is 33.33 riyals. So for Saudi overtime, take the full monthly wage including allowances for the hourly part, the basic wage for the premium, and the 30-day, 8-hour divisor the guide uses.

In the UAE, Article 19 pays overtime at the wage for normal hours, worked out on the basic wage, plus at least 25%, rising to at least 50% for overtime between 10 pm and 4 am for workers who are not on shifts. Both parts rest on the basic wage, and the article does not set a divisor for turning a monthly basic wage into an hourly one, so check how your employer's payroll does it.

The calculator also shows a day rate equal to the monthly figure divided by 30. That is not your pay per working day. It is the convention many Gulf payroll and settlement calculations use for a day's pay whatever the working days in the month, for example in leave encashment and end of service sums, and it is shown so you can compare it with the working-day figure.

Worked examples

Every figure below comes from the calculator above with the inputs shown and no deductions.

Example 1: Saudi Arabia, SAR 12,000 a month on a 6-day week

Khalid earns SAR 12,000 a month and works 8 hours a day, 6 days a week, which is the 48-hour week Article 98 allows. His annual pay is SAR 144,000. Six days of 8 hours make 48 hours a week, and 52 × 48 = 2,496 hours a year. His hourly rate is SAR 57.69, his pay per working day SAR 461.54 and his weekly pay SAR 2,769.23. The day rate used in settlements is SAR 400.

Example 2: UAE, AED 15,000 a month on a 5-day week

Sara works in Dubai for AED 15,000 a month, 8 hours a day and 5 days a week. Her annual pay is AED 180,000 over 52 × 40 = 2,080 hours, which gives an hourly rate of AED 86.54 and AED 692.31 per working day. Her weekly pay is AED 3,461.54 and the 30-day rate is AED 500. With the same 8-hour day over 6 days her hourly rate would be lower, which is why the days per week matter as much as the salary.

Example 3: an hourly offer of AED 60 turned into a monthly figure

Ravi is offered AED 60 an hour for 8 hours a day, 6 days a week. That is AED 480 per working day and AED 2,880 a week. Over a year it comes to AED 149,760, which is AED 12,480 a month. The 30-day rate on that monthly figure is AED 416. He can now set the offer against monthly salaries on the same footing.

Example 4: Saudi Arabia, SAR 9,000 a month on a 5-day week

Huda earns SAR 9,000 a month for 8 hours a day, 5 days a week. Her annual pay of SAR 108,000 over 2,080 hours gives SAR 51.92 an hour and SAR 415.38 per working day. Her weekly pay is SAR 2,076.92 and the 30-day rate is SAR 300.

Find your case

Your situation	Hours per day	Days per week
Saudi Arabia, weekly standard at the legal maximum	8	6
Saudi or UAE office on a 5-day week	8, or what your contract says	5
Muslim worker in Saudi Arabia during Ramadan	6	Your usual days
Worker in the UAE during Ramadan	Your usual hours minus 2	Your usual days
A category the Saudi Minister allows 9 hours a day	9	Your usual days
Hazardous work set at 7 hours a day in Saudi Arabia	7	Your usual days
UAE worker at the legal maximum	8	6

When does the result need a closer look?

Overtime. Do not use the calculator's hourly figure for overtime. In Saudi Arabia, follow the Ministry's method above: actual monthly wage divided by 30 days and 8 hours, plus half the basic hourly wage. In the UAE, Article 19 builds overtime on the basic wage plus its premium.
Ramadan. The shorter Ramadan day changes the hours worked, not the monthly salary. An hourly rate worked out on Ramadan hours applies to that month only. In Saudi Arabia enter 6 hours for a Muslim worker; in the UAE enter your normal daily hours minus two, the reduction the Implementing Regulation makes for everyone.
Part-time and shift work. Enter the hours the contract states. A shift worker's night hours in the UAE are outside the 10 pm to 4 am premium described above.
Net pay. The figures are gross. Social insurance contributions and other payslip deductions vary with nationality and employer, so use the deductions box with the percentage on your own payslip.

Common mistakes

Dividing the monthly salary by 30 to get a day's pay for a working day. That gives the settlement day rate. Pay per working day is higher, because there are fewer working days than calendar days.
Assuming 8 hours and 5 days for every Gulf job. The law allows up to 48 hours a week, and many contracts use 6 days. Use your contract's hours.
Treating Saudi and UAE overtime alike. Saudi overtime pays the hourly actual wage plus half the basic hourly wage, while the UAE builds overtime on the basic wage alone.
Comparing an hourly offer with a monthly one without the hours. AED 60 an hour is AED 12,480 a month only on 48 hours a week, as Example 3 shows.

Frequently asked questions

Multiply the monthly salary by 12, then divide by 52 times your weekly hours. For SAR 12,000 a month on 48 hours a week, that is SAR 57.69 an hour.

Article 98 allows up to eight actual hours a day or forty-eight a week, and no more than six a day or thirty-six a week for Muslims during Ramadan.

Article 17 of Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021 sets the maximum normal hours at eight a day or forty-eight a week. The Cabinet may change daily hours for some sectors, and the Implementing Regulation reduces normal hours by two hours a day during Ramadan.

Many Gulf payroll and settlement calculations use a 30-day month for a day's pay, whatever the working days. The calculator shows that day rate next to the pay per working day so you can see both.

It depends on the country. In Saudi Arabia the Ministry's guide pays the hourly actual wage, which includes allowances, plus 50% of the basic hourly wage. In the UAE, Article 19 builds the overtime rate on the basic wage.

Related guides

Sources

Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development: Saudi Labor Law, working conditions, Articles 98 to 107
Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development: awareness guide on the rights and duties of employers and workers
Dubai Development Authority: Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021, English translation, Articles 17 and 19
UAE Legislation portal (uaelegislation.gov.ae): the Executive Regulation of the UAE labour law, its article on working hours, including the Ramadan reduction and commuting time.

This calculator gives estimates for general information and is not legal, tax or financial advice. Your contract, your employer's work regulations and any official decision on working hours can change the figures. For an official answer, ask the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development in Saudi Arabia, the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation in the UAE, or your employer's HR department. Read how we check our figures in the editorial policy.

Rules checked against the official text on 4 November 2026.