After one year in a UAE job, your gratuity is worth 21 days of basic wage.
Not before. Article 51 gives the entitlement to a worker who has completed one year of continuous service, and 21 days for each year of the first five is the rate.
The number at each step
Basic salary AED 6,000. Daily basic wage is 6,000 ÷ 30 = 200.
| Service | Days | Gratuity |
|---|---|---|
| 11 months | 0 | Nothing |
| 1 year | 21 | 4,200 |
| 1 year 6 months | 31.5 | 6,300 |
| 2 years | 42 | 8,400 |
| 3 years | 63 | 12,600 |
| 5 years | 105 | 21,000 |
Past five years the rate rises to 30 days for each additional year, so the line gets steeper rather than flatter.
The part year
Article 51(3) pays for parts of a year in proportion, once a full year is complete. Six months into year two is worth half of 21 days, which is 10.5 days. There is no rounding up and no rounding down in the law, so the fraction is real money.
What counts as continuous service
Article 51(4) excludes days of absence without pay from the count. Approved annual leave, sick leave and normal working days count. Long unpaid breaks push the one year line further away.
If your employment ended and you returned, continuity depends on the gap and the reason. That is one of the few places where a short break in service can still count, and it is worth checking before accepting a number.
What it is calculated on
The last basic wage, not the total salary. Housing, transport and other allowances sit outside it. As our basic salary piece shows, using the total by mistake overstates the figure by around a third.
Sources
- Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021, Article 51, UAE Legislation portal. Read 2 November 2026.
- Arithmetic is our own, from the day counts in clauses 2 and 3.
General information, not legal advice.