How is my final settlement calculated in the UAE?
Your final settlement is your gratuity plus unpaid wages, notice pay where due and unused leave. Your employer must pay it within 14 days of the contract ending (Art. 53).
Checked 23 October 2026
Get your datesEvery deadline as a date, from your last working day.
What to do now
- If your employer ended the job, claim ILOE within 30 days. The leaving plan gives you the date.
- List each line above with your own figures. The leaving plan works out the gratuity.
- Ask HR for a written breakdown before you sign anything.
- If the payment is late or short, complain to MoHRE. You have 2 years from the end of your job.
See an example plan
What to ask HR
- Can I have the settlement broken down into gratuity, wages, notice and leave?
- Which pay figure did you use for each line?
- Are there deductions, and what are they for?
1. Gratuity
You get 21 days' basic pay a year for your first 5 years, then 30 days a year (Art. 51). You need 1 full year first.
It is worked out on basic pay, divided by 30 for a day's pay. The total is capped at 2 years' wage (Art. 51(6)).
2. Unpaid wages
Your wages for every day you worked up to your last day, if they have not been paid yet.
3. Notice pay
If your employer ended it and you did not work your notice, it owes you that wage (Art. 43).
Notice pay uses your last total wage, allowances included. It works both ways: if you left without serving notice, you can owe the same to your employer.
4. Unused leave
Annual leave you did not take is part of your final settlement. It is paid on your basic wage (Art. 29).
What can be taken off
Only amounts owed under the law or a court judgment (Art. 51(7)). Unpaid ILOE fines are one example.
A worked example
Say your basic pay is AED 8,000 and your total pay is AED 12,000. You worked 4 years and have 10 days of leave left.
Your employer ended the job and paid 30 days' notice instead of letting you work it.
- Gratuity: 4 x 21 = 84 days at about AED 267 = AED 22,400.
- Leave: 10 days at about AED 267 = about AED 2,667.
- Notice: 30 days at AED 400 = AED 12,000.
- Total: AED 34,400 for gratuity and notice, about AED 37,067 with leave, plus any unpaid wages.
Notice uses AED 400 a day because it runs on total pay. Gratuity uses basic pay.
If you qualify for ILOE, it is paid separately and does not reduce any of this (Decree-Law 13/2022, Art. 6).
Claim ILOE within 30 days of your last day (Cabinet Resolution 97/2022, Art. 9). It applies if your employer ended the job, and not for a disciplinary reason. If your complaint goes to court, the 30 days can run from the court's ruling. If you can claim now, do not wait for a ruling. You need 12 months in a row on the scheme.