Key facts at a glance
Years 1-5
21 days/yr
Basic pay, per year of service
Year 6 onward
30 days/yr
Rate steps up after year 5
Cap
2 years' basic
Total gratuity ceiling
Here is the answer before the milestones: on a basic salary of AED 20,000/month, UAE end-of-service gratuity is roughly AED 69,041 at 5 years, AED 167,671 at 10 years, and AED 364,932 at 20 years. The jump between 5 and 10 years is bigger than simple doubling because of one rule almost everyone glosses over: the accrual rate itself increases after year 5.
Gratuity in the UAE isn't a flat percentage of your basic salary times years of service. It's 21 days' basic pay per year for your first 5 years, then 30 days' basic pay for every year after that, capped at 2 years' basic salary in total. That step-change at year 5 is the single most important number to understand if you're weighing whether to stay in a Dubai or Abu Dhabi role a little longer.
Run your own basic salary through the full gratuity calculator.
Open the UAE calculatorHow the MOHRE gratuity formula actually works
Under Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021, which MOHRE enforces for mainland labour cards, gratuity is built up as a daily wage figure (your basic annual salary divided by 365) multiplied by 21 for each year of your first 5 years, then multiplied by 30 for each year after that. The two rates don't blend, they stack: your first 5 years always accrue at 21 days, and only the years beyond that accrue at 30 days. There's no retroactive bump applying the 30-day rate to years you've already worked.
It applies in full whether you resign or your employer ends the contract, since the older rule that cut gratuity for resigning employees was scrapped under the 2021 law. And it's calculated on basic salary only, the fixed portion of your package before housing, transport, or any other allowance.
Gratuity at 1, 2, 5, 10, 15, and 20 years, three basic salaries
Figures calculated live from the same engine behind our UAE Salary Calculator. All figures assume the stated amount is your basic salary, not your total package.
AED 10,000/month basic
| 1 yr | 2 yrs | 5 yrs | 10 yrs | 15 yrs | 20 yrs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AED 6,904 | AED 13,808 | AED 34,521 | AED 83,836 | AED 133,151 | AED 182,466 |
AED 20,000/month basic
| 1 yr | 2 yrs | 5 yrs | 10 yrs | 15 yrs | 20 yrs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AED 13,808 | AED 27,616 | AED 69,041 | AED 167,671 | AED 266,301 | AED 364,932 |
AED 30,000/month basic
| 1 yr | 2 yrs | 5 yrs | 10 yrs | 15 yrs | 20 yrs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AED 20,712 | AED 41,425 | AED 103,562 | AED 251,507 | AED 399,452 | AED 547,397 |
None of these figures are capped yet at these salary and tenure combinations, the 2-year cap only binds at much longer service lengths relative to basic salary. Run your own basic salary and years of service on the calculator.
Why pushing past year 5 is worth more than it looks
On AED 20,000/month basic, leaving at exactly 5 years locks in AED 69,041. Staying to year 10 doesn't just add another 5 years at the same rate, it adds those 5 years at 30 days instead of 21, taking the total to AED 167,671, more than double. Every year you stay past the 5-year mark is worth roughly 43% more gratuity accrual than every year before it. If you're weighing a counter-offer or a job move around your 4th or 5th anniversary at a Dubai or Abu Dhabi employer, that step-change is worth putting a real number against, not just a gut feeling.
The 2-year cap, and when it actually bites
Total gratuity can never exceed 2 years' basic salary, however long your career at one employer runs. On AED 20,000/month basic (AED 240,000/year), the cap is AED 480,000. At 20 years of service, accrual reaches AED 364,932, still under the cap. The cap mostly matters for very long tenures, think 25-plus years, at employers where basic salary hasn't grown much relative to years served.
It's also worth remembering this whole calculation is gratuity only, a lump sum on exit. It doesn't touch your monthly take-home pay at all, which stays fully tax-free throughout your employment. For the full picture on why nothing gets deducted from your Dubai or Abu Dhabi payslip, see our UAE tax-free salary explainer.
Calculate your exact gratuity
Enter your basic salary to see your accumulated gratuity at each service milestone, alongside your tax-free take-home.
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Frequently asked questions
How much gratuity do I get after 5 years in the UAE?
At exactly 5 years, gratuity is 21 days' basic pay for each of those 5 years. On a basic salary of AED 10,000/month, that's roughly AED 34,521. On AED 20,000/month basic, it's about AED 69,041. On AED 30,000/month basic, it's around AED 103,562. Year 5 is the exact point the accrual rate steps up from 21 to 30 days per year for every year after.
How much is UAE gratuity after 10 years of service?
After 10 years, the first 5 years accrue at 21 days per year and the next 5 at 30 days per year. On AED 10,000/month basic, that's roughly AED 83,836. On AED 20,000/month basic, about AED 167,671. On AED 30,000/month basic, around AED 251,507. That's noticeably more than double the 5-year figure, since the back half of the decade accrues at the higher 30-day rate.
Why does the accrual rate jump from 21 to 30 days at year 5?
That's how UAE Labour Law (Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021) is written: 21 days' basic pay per year of service for each of the first 5 years, then 30 days' basic pay per year for every year after. It's a deliberate incentive to stay put. Leaving at year 4 versus pushing through to year 6 doesn't just add one more year of accrual, it adds a year at the higher rate and locks in the better rate for every year that follows, which compounds meaningfully the longer you stay.
Is there a cap on how much gratuity I can build up?
Yes, total gratuity is capped at 2 years' basic salary, no matter how long you've worked. For most people in a typical career length in the UAE, this cap doesn't bind, the milestones at 10, 15, and even 20 years generally stay under the 2-year ceiling unless your basic salary is unusually low relative to a very long tenure. It exists mainly to prevent gratuity from growing indefinitely for extremely long-serving employees.
Does gratuity apply if I switch employers within the UAE, or only when I leave the country?
It applies on exit from each employer, not on leaving the UAE. If you resign from one Dubai employer and join another, your gratuity clock resets at zero with the new employer, and you're paid out your accrued gratuity from the previous role. There's no carrying forward of years of service between different employers, even if you never left the country.
Is gratuity calculated on my basic salary or my whole package?
Basic salary only, not the full package. Housing allowance, transport allowance, and any bonuses are excluded. Since UAE offer letters commonly quote a total package figure that includes allowances, check your specific basic/allowance split with HR, since it's often 60-80% of the total quoted number, and that basic figure is what actually goes into the gratuity formula.
Do DIFC or ADGM free zone contracts use the same gratuity formula?
Not always. Standard mainland gratuity under MOHRE follows the 21-days/30-days formula above. Some DIFC and ADGM free zone employers instead run DEWS (the DIFC Employee Workplace Savings scheme) or an equivalent, which is an employer-funded defined-contribution savings plan rather than the standard gratuity calculation. Check your offer letter and free zone to confirm which scheme applies to you before using this calculator's figures.