End of Service Gratuity UAE 2026: How It Is Calculated, Who Qualifies and What to Do If It Is Unpaid

End of service gratuity (UAE) is the lump sum a private-sector employer must pay a foreign worker when employment ends after at least one year of continuous service, calculated at 21 days’ basic wage for each of the first five years and 30 days’ basic wage for each later year, capped at two years’ wage. It is set by Article 51 of Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021 on the Regulation of Labour Relations, and the detail for part-time work and deductions is in the Executive Regulation, Cabinet Resolution No. 1 of 2022. It is owed whether you resign, are terminated or reach the end of a fixed-term contract, and it must be paid with your other end of service benefits within 14 days.

This guide is written from the text of the law and the Executive Regulation on uaelegislation.gov.ae, MOHRE’s own pages and the published rules of DIFC and ADGM, all checked on 23 September 2026. It explains who qualifies, what “basic wage” means, the gratuity calculation step by step with checked arithmetic, what counts as service, part-time contracts, deductions, the 14-day deadline, the alternative savings scheme, free zones, and what to do when the money does not arrive. If you only want a number, our gratuity tool will run it; this page explains every input so you can check the result.

End of service gratuity UAE at a glance

Each rule, what it says and where it is written.

End of service gratuity UAE: how MIRDXB PRO helps

Most people who contact us about gratuity are short of certainty, not information: is the basic figure right, was unpaid leave taken out correctly, may the employer deduct that loan, and what happens when day 14 passes? We are a PRO and visa services firm in Al Barsha 1, Dubai. We check settlements, file and follow MOHRE claims for unpaid end of service benefits, and handle the visa cancellation alongside. When a claim needs a lawyer, we say so.

If you already know the settlement is wrong or unpaid, the direct route is our labour claims and MOHRE complaint service. For employers, final settlements and cancellations are part of our PRO services in Dubai.

What we do

• Check the settlement against the law. We rebuild the gratuity calculation from your contract, salary revisions, joining date, last working day and leave record, and give you a written comparison with the employer’s figure.
• Draft the written request to the employer, setting out the basic wage, service dates, day count and the Article 53 deadline, so there is a dated record before anything is escalated.
• File and follow the MOHRE claim for unpaid gratuity and other dues, attend with you or for you where the channel allows, and keep you told at each stage.
• Keep your visa file safe while the claim runs: cancellation in the right order, grace period planning and family visas.
• For employers: prepare the final settlement statement, check deductions against Article 29 of the Executive Regulation, and process the MOHRE and GDRFA or ICP cancellations.

How it works

1. WhatsApp us first with your contract, latest payslip, joining date, last working day and the settlement sheet if you have one.
2. We check the figures and send you our calculation with each step shown, plus what we think is missing or wrong.
3. You decide whether to raise it yourself using our note, or have us take it on for a fee quoted in writing.
4. We close the file once the money is paid or MOHRE has issued its decision, and tell you what to keep.

What it costs

Any government fee, such as a MOHRE or typing-centre charge, is passed on at cost with the receipt. Our own fee is quoted in writing before we start and depends on the work: a settlement check is not the same job as a full claim with cancellation. You can see how we price on our fees page.

Why residents use us

• We publish our sources: every rule here links to the law that sets it.
• We handle MOHRE, GDRFA Dubai and ICP, so the money and the visa are dealt with together rather than by three different people.
• We tell you when you do not need us. If the settlement is right, we say so.
• Our office is in Al Barsha 1, open by appointment; whatsApp us any time, 24 hours; office open Monday to Friday, 9:00 to 18:00 (Dubai time), and we can act for you under power of attorney if you have already left the UAE.

Who is entitled to end of service gratuity in the UAE

Article 51(2) sets three conditions. You must be a foreign worker, on a full-time contract (part-time and other models follow their own formula, covered below), and you must have completed one year or more of continuous service. If all three are met, the end of service gratuity is due “upon the end of his service”. The law does not say “upon termination by the employer” or “unless the worker resigns”. It is tied to the end of service, however that end comes about.

The Labour Law itself applies to “all Establishments, Employers and Workers in the Private Sector in the State” (Article 3). That covers mainland companies licensed by an emirate’s economic department and, in practice, the great majority of free zone companies. Because the formula comes from federal law, the end of service calculation is the same in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and every other emirate; only DIFC and ADGM, covered below, have their own employment laws. It does not cover three groups named in Article 3(2): employees of federal and local government, members of the armed forces, police and security, and domestic workers. Each of those has its own rules, which are summarised later in this guide.

What “continuous service” means

The one-year test is about unbroken employment with the same employer, counted from the first day of work under the contract. Probation is part of that period: it is the opening stage of the same contract, and nothing in Article 51 excludes it from service. What breaks it is a genuine end of employment with a settlement paid, followed by a new start. If you are unsure about probation itself, our probation period guide covers the rules.

Days of absence without pay are not counted towards service (Article 51(4)). They do not break continuity; they simply shorten the period on which the end of service gratuity is calculated.

The legal basis: UAE labour law gratuity in Articles 51 to 53

Much of what circulates about UAE labour law gratuity comes from the old law. These are the instruments in force on 23 September 2026; each can be read at no cost on the federal legislation portal.

Basic wage: the figure that decides your end of service benefits

Almost every disappointment with an end of service gratuity (UAE) settlement starts here. The law defines basic wage as “the wage specified in the employment contract, which is paid to the Worker in return for his work under the employment contract, on a monthly, weekly, daily, hourly or piece-meal basis, and does not include any other allowances or benefits in kind.” Wage, by contrast, is the wider figure: basic plus cash allowances, housing, cost-of-living allowances, commissions and similar amounts.

Article 51(2) says the end of service gratuity is “calculated according to the basic wage”, and Article 51(5) says it is based on “the last basic wage received” for workers paid by the month, week or day. So the number that matters is the basic line in your contract as it stands on your last day, not your total package and not an average over the years.

Where to find your basic wage

Your MOHRE employment contract shows basic and total salary separately, and your latest salary revision letter shows any change since. Payslips usually split basic from allowances; if yours does not, ask HR in writing. Free zone contracts state the basic figure in the same way.

The allowance trap, in numbers

Two employees each earn AED 20,000 a month and each leaves after four years. The only difference is how the contract splits the package.

The same pay produces a gap of AED 16,800 after four years, decided entirely when the contract was drafted. That is why the basic-to-allowance split is worth negotiating at offer stage, and why a proposed cut in basic salary should be read as a cut in every year of accrued end of service gratuity, not only in the months ahead.

Commission, bonus, overtime and piece-rate pay

Commission, bonuses and overtime are “wage” but not basic wage, so they stay out unless your contract makes them part of the basic. The exception in Article 51(5) is the piece-rate worker, whose gratuity calculation uses “the average daily wage”. If you are paid by output, ask how the average was worked out.

Gratuity calculation step by step

Once you have the basic wage and the service dates, the gratuity calculation is mechanical. Work in this order and write each figure down, because a settlement is easiest to challenge, or to accept with confidence, when every step is visible.

How the two bands stack

The 30-day rate does not replace the 21-day rate for the whole service once you pass five years. The first five years are always valued at 21 days each, and only the years after that earn 30 days each. A ten-year employee has (21 × 5) + (30 × 5) = 105 + 150 = 255 days, not 300. Applying 30 days to all ten years is the single most common error in home-made gratuity calculation, and on a basic of AED 10,000 it overstates the entitlement by AED 15,000.

Part-years

Article 51(3) pays “parts of the year in proportion to the amount spent in work, provided that he has completed one year of continuous service”. So 14 months of service earns 21 × 14/12 = 24.5 days, not 21. After the fifth year, the fraction is paid at the 30-day rate: four months in year seven is 30 × 4/12 = 10 days.

The two-year cap

Article 51(6) says the total end of service gratuity “does not exceed two years’ wage”. At 30 days a month, two years is 720 days. The day count reaches 705 at 25 years and 720 at 25 years and 6 months, so the cap affects only people with more than about 25½ years with one employer. The law uses the word “wage” here rather than “basic wage”; most calculators and employers apply the cap as 24 months of basic wage, which is the lower and safer reading. Where a very long-serving employee’s package includes large allowances, the difference is worth raising with MOHRE before signing.

Gratuity calculation reference tables

The day count does not depend on salary. Find your completed years, read off the days, and multiply by your daily basic wage. The last column is a quick check: it converts the days into months of basic salary.

The next table turns the days into money for common basic salaries. Read the row for your basic, not your package. Figures are in AED, rounded to the nearest dirham, using basic ÷ 30.

A quick sanity check: after three years the end of service gratuity is worth about two months of basic salary, after five years three and a half months, and after ten years eight and a half months. If a settlement figure is far from that ratio, something in the inputs is wrong.

Worked examples of the gratuity calculation

Each example uses the basic wage only and a 30-day month. The arithmetic has been checked line by line.

Example 1: three years, basic AED 8,000

Example 2: eight years, basic AED 12,000

Valuing all eight years at 30 days would give AED 96,000. The AED 18,000 difference is the effect of the first five years being paid at 21 days.

You can run your own figures in our gratuity tool. Do the arithmetic once by hand as well: knowing which number goes where is what lets you check a settlement rather than simply accept it.

What counts as service, and what does not

The service period is not always the gap between your joining date and your last day. Article 51(4) takes out “the days of absence from work without pay”. Everything else that is part of the employment relationship stays in.

The unpaid leave arithmetic

Unpaid leave shortens the service period; it does not cancel a year. If you worked four years with two months of unpaid leave, your service is three years and ten months. On a basic of AED 8,000 that is 21 × (3 + 10/12) = 80.5 days, or AED 21,467, instead of 84 days and AED 22,400. The unpaid months cost about AED 933, not a whole year’s end of service gratuity. Keep your own record of any unpaid leave, with dates, because employers reconstructing it years later from payroll do not always get it right.

Successive contracts and group transfers

Renewing a fixed-term contract, changing work model or reissuing paperwork with the same employer does not reset the clock. A move between two companies in the same group is different: they are separate employers. Before agreeing to a transfer, get in writing either that the new company recognises your original joining date, or that the old one will pay gratuity up to the transfer date.

Gratuity after resignation, dismissal and contract expiry

This is the most argued question in UAE employment, and much of what circulates is out of date. Under the current law the answer is simple: the way the job ended does not change the formula.

Gratuity after resignation

Article 51(2) grants the end of service gratuity “upon the end of his service” to a foreign full-time worker with at least a year’s continuous service. It contains no reduction for resignation. The one-third and two-thirds figures still quoted on many websites come from the old Federal Law No. 8 of 1980, which reduced the end of service gratuity for workers who resigned from unlimited contracts before five years. That law was replaced on 2 February 2022, and Decree-Law 33 of 2021 moved all private-sector contracts to fixed terms (Article 8). So gratuity after resignation is the full amount, calculated in exactly the same way as after termination.

What resignation does change is notice. You must give the notice agreed in your contract (between 30 and 90 days under Article 43) or compensate the employer for the part not worked. Notice pay is a separate line in the final settlement and does not reduce the end of service gratuity itself. Our notice period guide covers the rules and the shorter periods that apply to resignations during probation.

Termination by the employer or contract expiry

Termination with notice under Article 43, an Article 42 ending such as closure, bankruptcy, death or permanent disability, or a fixed-term contract that expires and is not renewed: in each case the gratuity is due in full on the whole period of service.

Disciplinary dismissal, including Article 44

Article 39 lists the disciplinary penalties an employer may impose, and the most serious is dismissal “while preserving” the worker’s end of service gratuity. Article 44 lists the grounds for dismissal without notice after a written investigation, such as false documents, grave loss, assault, or more than 7 consecutive days of unexplained absence. It says nothing about losing the gratuity. The old law did strip it in some of these cases; the new one does not. The employer may still deduct amounts properly due, such as damage caused by the worker’s mistake, under Article 29 of the Executive Regulation.

Leaving without notice because of the employer

Article 45 lets a worker leave without notice “while retaining his rights upon termination of service” if, among other cases, the employer breaches its obligations and does not put it right after the worker has notified MOHRE 14 working days in advance, or the worker is assaulted or harassed. Follow the notification steps exactly; simply stopping work risks an absence report.

Less than one year

If service ends before one year, whether by resignation or termination, there is no end of service gratuity. Unpaid salary, cash for accrued annual leave and any notice pay remain payable.

Part-time, flexible, temporary and job-sharing work

Decree-Law 33 of 2021 introduced several work models, and Article 52 leaves the end of service gratuity for non-full-time workers to the Executive Regulation. Article 30 of that regulation sets the formula:

In plain terms: work out the end of service gratuity a full-time worker would get for the same service and basic, then scale it by your share of full-time hours. You need two figures from the employer: your contracted annual hours and the full-time annual hours at the same establishment.

Article 30(2) adds: “The end of service pay shall not be applicable in the event of operating under a temporary employment model or if its duration is less than a year.” A temporary contract for a specific project therefore carries no end of service gratuity. The regulation does not spell out the flexible model separately; where a flexible contract sets annual hours, the same hours-ratio logic is the reasonable reading, but confirm it with MOHRE. Our guide to UAE employment contract types explains each model and how contracts are converted.

Deductions: what an employer may and may not take

Article 51(7) allows the employer to deduct “any amounts that are due by law or by a judgment”, under the conditions in the Executive Regulation. Article 29 of the regulation lists them:

1. Amounts owed by the worker to repay loans, or amounts paid to the worker in excess.
2. Repayment of amounts deducted for pension and insurance contributions.
3. Amounts deducted because of violations, under the establishment’s approved list of penalties.
4. Debts owed under a court judgment against the worker.
5. Amounts to repair damage caused by the worker’s own mistake.

Article 29 also sets a time condition: the deduction is allowed where “a period of (3) three months has not lapsed on the amounts owed starting from the date they became due”. An old debt that the employer never pursued is not a standalone right to cut your end of service gratuity. In every case, a deduction should be identifiable, documented and linked to one of the five heads above.

Unpaid unemployment insurance (ILOE) fines are a further item: under the ILOE scheme they can be deducted from the worker’s end of service entitlements. Check your ILOE subscription and any fines before your last day.

What is not a lawful deduction

• A figure that appears for the first time on the settlement sheet, with no agreement, penalty decision or judgment behind it.
• The employer’s own costs of recruiting you. Article 6 prohibits the employer from charging the worker “the fees and costs of recruitment and employment” or collecting them “directly or indirectly”, and a deduction from end of service benefits is an indirect collection.
• A “penalty for resigning” or for not giving a reason. Notice pay for notice not worked is the only lawful consequence.
• Training costs, unless there is a written agreement that makes them repayable and the deduction fits one of the Article 29 heads.

Payment: the 14-day deadline and your full end of service benefits

Article 53 is short: the employer “shall pay the Worker, within fourteen (14) days as of the date of the end of the contract, his wages and all other entitlements”. The clock starts on the day the contract ends, which is the last day of the notice period, not the day you handed in a resignation letter. It covers the end of service gratuity and every other amount you are owed.

If your employer is on the Wage Protection System, the final settlement is often paid through the same bank channel as salary. Keep that account open until the money has cleared. If you must close it, give the employer written alternative bank details before your last day and ask for an acknowledgement.

If your end of service gratuity (UAE) is not paid

An unpaid or underpaid end of service gratuity is a labour claim like any other unpaid entitlement. The route is set by Article 54 as amended by Decree-Law 9 of 2024 and by Ministerial Resolution No. 47 of 2022 on labour complaints.

1. Put it in writing. Email the employer with your gratuity calculation, the basic wage and service dates you used, and the Article 53 deadline. Keep it factual. The email is your dated record.
2. File a MOHRE complaint once the 14 days have passed, through the MOHRE app, website, a Tasheel or Tawjeeh centre, or the call centre on 600590000. Our step-by-step guide to filing a MOHRE complaint covers the channels, documents and stages.
3. Amicable settlement. MOHRE first tries to settle the dispute between the parties.
4. MOHRE decision or court. Where the claim is up to AED 50,000, MOHRE decides it and its decision is enforceable, subject to appeal to the court. Larger claims, and claims MOHRE cannot settle, are referred to the labour court.
5. Time limit. A labour claim must be brought within two years of the end of employment. Do not wait.

If the employer has collapsed, the workers’ protection insurance under Ministerial Resolution 318 of 2022 can pay up to AED 20,000 per worker for entitlements under the Labour Law when the employer fails to pay, once there is a MOHRE decision or court ruling. It does not replace the claim; it is a floor under it.

If your salary itself has also stopped, read what to do when salary is not paid first. If the employer has disappeared and will not cancel your visa either, the route is in our guide to visa cancellation without the sponsor. And if you would rather hand the whole claim over, that is what our labour claims service does.

Evidence to collect before your last day

Access to email and HR systems usually ends on the last day. Send yourself the signed contract, every salary revision letter, the last twelve payslips, proof of your joining date, leave records (especially unpaid leave), the resignation or termination letter, and any settlement statement.

The alternative end of service benefits scheme (Cabinet Resolution 96 of 2023)

Article 51(8) lets the Cabinet approve “other alternative systems” to the lump-sum gratuity. It did so with Cabinet Resolution No. 96 of 2023, the voluntary alternative end of service benefits scheme, which took effect in October 2023. Under it, an employer pays a monthly contribution into an approved investment fund instead of owing a lump sum at the end. MOHRE announced it as a way to let workers’ end of service benefits earn investment returns.

The contribution rates are the monthly equivalent of the statutory formula: 21 days ÷ 360 days is 5.83%, and 30 ÷ 360 is 8.33%. If your employer has enrolled you, your settlement has two parts: the lump-sum gratuity for service up to the joining date, calculated as in this guide, and the fund balance for the period after. Ask for statements from the fund, and check that the pre-joining gratuity was calculated and recorded when you were enrolled.

DIFC, ADGM and other free zones

Most free zone companies employ staff under the federal Labour Law, with the contract and permit issued by the free zone authority rather than MOHRE. Everything in this guide applies to them unless the free zone’s own employment rules say otherwise, so check your contract and your free zone’s regulations. Two free zones, the financial centres, have their own employment laws and a different end of service system. If you are weighing a free zone job against a mainland one, our free zone versus mainland guide sets out the wider differences.

DIFC: the DEWS savings plan

Since 1 February 2020, DIFC employers have paid monthly contributions into a qualifying workplace savings scheme (DEWS) instead of accruing a lump sum: at least 5.83% of basic wage for the first five years and 8.33% after. Employees may add voluntary contributions. Gratuity earned up to 31 January 2020 is kept and paid at exit or transferred into the plan. A DIFC leaver therefore receives the plan balance plus any pre-2020 gratuity, not an Article 51 calculation.

ADGM: its own end of service gratuity rule

The Abu Dhabi Global Market has its own Employment Regulations 2024. ADGM’s published guidance on section 61 says an employee with one year or more of continuous employment is entitled to end of service gratuity “regardless of the reason for termination”, at 21 days’ basic wage for each of the first five years and 30 days’ basic wage for each additional year, on the basic wage at the termination date. Two differences matter: the daily rate is worked out by dividing by 365 rather than by 30, and final dues must be paid within 21 calendar days rather than 14. The entitlement does not apply to UAE or GCC nationals enrolled in the federal pension scheme, or to employees who have chosen a pension or savings scheme instead.

Domestic workers, UAE nationals and government employees

Domestic workers

Domestic workers are outside the Labour Law (Article 3(2)) and are governed by Federal Decree-Law No. 9 of 2022. Article 22 lets the Cabinet approve how their end of service gratuity is calculated and paid, and Article 19(2) requires all dues within 10 days of the agreement ending. An ILO briefing updated in May 2024 recorded that the detailed calculation rules had not yet been set, and we have not found a later published decision. Households should confirm the current method with MOHRE before settling. Sponsoring a worker is covered by our domestic worker visa service.

UAE nationals

Article 51(1) says an Emirati worker’s end of service benefit is governed by “the legislation regulating pensions and social security in force in the State”. An Emirati in the private sector is registered with the pension authority, and the pension system, not the 21/30-day gratuity calculation, provides the end of service benefit. GCC nationals working in the UAE are usually covered by their own country’s pension scheme through the GCC extension arrangements.

Government employees

Federal and local government employees are excluded by Article 3(2). Their end of service benefits come from the government HR and pension legislation that applies to their employer, and complaints go through that employer, not MOHRE. Semi-government companies licensed as private establishments are usually under the Labour Law; check who issued your work permit.

Special situations

Death in service

The contract ends on the worker’s death (Article 42(5)). The gratuity and other dues pass to the legal heirs under the applicable succession rules, usually on production of the court’s inheritance documents. A representative holding the heirs’ power of attorney can follow the file with the employer and MOHRE.

Company closure, bankruptcy or an owner who has left

Permanent closure and insolvency end the contract under Article 42(7) and (8), but the end of service gratuity is still owed. It becomes a claim rather than a payment. File with MOHRE promptly, because you may be one of many claimants against limited assets, and the workers’ protection insurance (up to AED 20,000) may be the fastest money you see. If the company is being liquidated, the liquidation process in Dubai is covered by our company liquidation service.

Leaving the UAE before you are paid

You do not lose the end of service gratuity by leaving the country. But claims are harder to run from abroad, and your residence must still be cancelled. Before you go, check that your work permit and residence cancellation are in hand; our guide to cancelling an employment visa explains the normal sequence. If you have already left, a MOHRE claim can be filed and followed through a representative under power of attorney.

Settlement or cancellation held back

Payment is due within 14 days whatever the state of the paperwork, and cancellation is a separate duty of the employer. Neither can lawfully be made conditional on the other. If an employer ties them together, raise it with MOHRE rather than signing a figure you disagree with, and watch your residence grace period.

Is end of service gratuity taxed in the UAE?

No. The UAE does not levy personal income tax, and the Ministry of Finance’s corporate tax FAQ states that “UAE Corporate Tax does not apply on the salary and wages derived by employees in consideration for their services under an employment contract, including all allowances and bonuses.” An end of service gratuity is paid under the employment contract, so it reaches you without UAE tax.

Your home country may be different. If you are moving back to a country that taxes foreign income, take advice there before the money arrives.

For employers: getting end of service benefits right

End of service gratuity is an accruing liability that is paid in one sum, often years later, so provision for it monthly.

Keep a monthly schedule per employee (joining date, current basic, unpaid days, days accrued, value at today’s basic) and keep the signed contract, every salary revision letter and the unpaid-leave register. Those three records decide most disputes.

Give every leaver an itemised settlement statement; it prevents most complaints. Companies that use our PRO services in Dubai can hand us the settlement, the MOHRE cancellation and the residence cancellation as one job.

Checking your own settlement in ten minutes

You do not need a lawyer for a first check. Work through these in order.

If something is wrong, write to HR with your own figures before signing. Most discrepancies are errors, not positions, and are corrected at that stage. Where it is a position, you now have a dated objection, which helps if the matter goes to MOHRE.

End of service gratuity UAE: six cases, worked through

These cases are built from the situations we see most often. Names and identifying details are left out, and the figures are the published ones.

1. Sales executive who resigned after four years and was offered two-thirds

Joined in March 2022, resigned in February 2026 and worked 30 days’ notice, leaving in March 2026. Package AED 18,000 a month, basic AED 7,000. No unpaid leave. HR’s settlement sheet showed end of service gratuity of AED 13,067, “two-thirds because you resigned”.

What happened: the reduction came from the old law. A short email quoting Article 51(2) and Article 74 (the new law in force from 2 February 2022), with the calculation, was enough for HR to reissue the settlement at AED 19,600.

2. Operations manager with eleven years, a recent pay rise and a month of unpaid leave

Eleven years and five months’ service, with one month of unpaid leave in year six. Basic raised from AED 12,000 to AED 16,000 two years before exit. The employer calculated on an average basic “to be fair”.

The point: Article 51(5) uses the last basic wage received, not an average. The unpaid month cost 2.5 days (about AED 1,333), not a month’s gratuity.

3. Administrator terminated at fourteen months: “you were only confirmed eight months ago”

Six months’ probation, then eight more months. Terminated by the employer with notice. Basic AED 4,500. The employer said there was no end of service gratuity because service ran from confirmation.

The working: service runs from the first day, so it is 14 months, over the one-year threshold. Days are 21 × 14 ÷ 12 = 24.5, at AED 150 a day, giving AED 3,675. The part-year is payable because the first year was complete (Article 51(3)).

4. Part-time designer on 20 hours a week for three years

Contracted 1,040 hours a year; full-time staff at the same company work 2,080. Full-time-equivalent basic AED 9,000. The employer said part-timers get no end of service gratuity.

The working: Executive Regulation Article 30(1) applies. The full-time gratuity calculation for three years is 9,000 ÷ 30 × 63 = AED 18,900; the hours ratio is 50%; the part-time gratuity is AED 9,450. The contract was not temporary and ran for more than a year, so Article 30(2) did not exclude it.

5. Warehouse supervisor dismissed under Article 44 after an absence

Six years’ service, basic AED 11,000. Dismissed without notice after eight consecutive days of unexplained absence, following a written investigation. The employer withheld all end of service benefits.

The working: Article 44(8) allowed the dismissal but does not remove the end of service gratuity. The eight unpaid days come out of service: 105 + 30 × (1 − 8/360) ≈ 134.3 days at AED 366.67, so about AED 49,256 instead of nothing. A MOHRE claim recovered it.

6. Accountant whose employer closed and stopped answering

Five years and six months’ service, basic AED 9,000. The owner left the UAE, the office closed, and nothing was paid. The worker’s visa was still active.

The working: (21 × 5) + (30 × 0.5) = 120 days at AED 300 a day gives AED 36,000, plus leave cash and the last month’s salary. The claim was under AED 50,000, so MOHRE could decide it. The work permit was cancelled through the MOHRE complaint route without the employer, then the residence, and the worker claimed up to AED 20,000 from the workers’ protection insurance once MOHRE’s decision issued; the balance stayed a debt of the employer.

What circulates online that is not true

How to verify every figure in this guide

What we will and will not do

We will check your settlement against the law before charging for anything else, show you our gratuity calculation step by step, draft the written request to your employer, file and follow a MOHRE claim, handle the work permit and residence cancellation in the right order, act for you under power of attorney if you have left the UAE, and tell you plainly when a case needs a lawyer.

We will not promise an outcome that MOHRE or a court decides, inflate a claim with amounts the law does not give you, advise you to stop going to work to put pressure on an employer, or charge a fee that was not quoted to you in writing first.

Related guides

• Notice period under UAE labour law: how much notice you owe, and notice pay
• Annual leave entitlement: the other large cash line in a final settlement
• Probation period rules: why your joining date matters
• How to file a MOHRE complaint: the claim process, step by step
• Salary not paid in the UAE: what to do when wages stop
• How to cancel an employment visa: the normal route when the employer co-operates
• Visa cancellation without the sponsor: when the employer has disappeared
• Employment contract types: full-time, part-time, temporary and flexible models
• Labour bans explained: what does and does not follow a resignation
• ILOE claim process: unemployment insurance after involuntary job loss
• What MOHRE is and does

Checking end of service gratuity (UAE) settlements, filing claims for unpaid end of service benefits and closing the visa file properly is what our PRO services in Dubai team handles.