What is End-of-Service Gratuity?
Under Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021, employees who complete at least one year of continuous service are entitled to gratuity on termination:
- 21 days of basic salary for each of the first 5 years.
- 30 days of basic salary for each additional year.
- Capped at 2 years' total basic salary.
Calculated on basic salary, NOT total pay
Housing, transport, and other allowances are excluded — a common source of dispute at exit.
Free-zone variants
- DIFC: replaced by DEWS (mandatory monthly contribution to a workplace savings plan).
- ADGM: still uses traditional gratuity calculation.