UAE Gratuity by Years of Service: The Full Table, Year by Year
Published · 7 min read
Gratuity in the UAE does not grow at a flat rate for every year you work — it accelerates once you pass five years, and it eventually hits a hard ceiling no matter how long you stay. This page lays out exactly how much gratuity you accrue at every stage, from your first eligible year through 30+ years of service, across five common basic salary bands, so you can find your own figure without running the calculator yourself.
Every figure below comes directly from the same calculation engine that powers the gratuity calculator UAE on this site, so there is no risk of the table and the calculator ever disagreeing.
How Gratuity Accrual Changes by Years of Service
Under Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021, gratuity is not a simple multiple of years worked. It accrues in two tiers:
- Years 1 to 5: 21 days of basic salary for each full year of service.
- Year 6 onward: 30 days of basic salary for each full year beyond the fifth.
The daily wage used for both tiers is always basic salary ÷ 30 — never the full salary including housing or transport allowances. So the total accrued days at any point in a career is simply “21 days × years up to 5” plus “30 days × years beyond 5,” and the final payout is that day count multiplied by the daily wage, subject to the 24-month cap described further down.
Full UAE Gratuity Table: 1 to 10 Years by Salary
The table below shows the final gratuity amount at each full year of service from 1 to 10, across five basic salary levels. Every cell is a termination case with no unpaid leave, calculated directly by the site’s gratuity engine.
| Years of service | AED 5,000 basic | AED 10,000 basic | AED 15,000 basic | AED 20,000 basic | AED 30,000 basic |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | AED 3,500.00 | AED 7,000.00 | AED 10,500.00 | AED 14,000.00 | AED 21,000.00 |
| 2 | AED 7,000.00 | AED 14,000.00 | AED 21,000.00 | AED 28,000.00 | AED 42,000.00 |
| 3 | AED 10,500.00 | AED 21,000.00 | AED 31,500.00 | AED 42,000.00 | AED 63,000.00 |
| 4 | AED 14,000.00 | AED 28,000.00 | AED 42,000.00 | AED 56,000.00 | AED 84,000.00 |
| 5 | AED 17,500.00 | AED 35,000.00 | AED 52,500.00 | AED 70,000.00 | AED 105,000.00 |
| 6 | AED 22,500.00 | AED 45,000.00 | AED 67,500.00 | AED 90,000.00 | AED 135,000.00 |
| 7 | AED 27,500.00 | AED 55,000.00 | AED 82,500.00 | AED 110,000.00 | AED 165,000.00 |
| 8 | AED 32,500.00 | AED 65,000.00 | AED 97,500.00 | AED 130,000.00 | AED 195,000.00 |
| 9 | AED 37,500.00 | AED 75,000.00 | AED 112,500.00 | AED 150,000.00 | AED 225,000.00 |
| 10 | AED 42,500.00 | AED 85,000.00 | AED 127,500.00 | AED 170,000.00 | AED 255,000.00 |
Notice the jump in the year-over-year increase once you cross year 5: from year 1 to year 5, each extra year at the AED 10,000 basic level adds AED 7,000.00 (21 days’ worth). From year 5 to year 6 onward, each extra year adds AED 10,000.00 (30 days’ worth) — a permanently higher increment for every year beyond the fifth.
Gratuity Beyond 10 Years: 15, 20, 25 and 30+ Years
Longer careers keep accruing at the 30-days-per-year rate until the 24-month cap is reached. Here is the same table extended to 15, 20, 25 and 30 years:
| Years of service | AED 5,000 basic | AED 10,000 basic | AED 15,000 basic | AED 20,000 basic | AED 30,000 basic |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15 | AED 67,500.00 | AED 135,000.00 | AED 202,500.00 | AED 270,000.00 | AED 405,000.00 |
| 20 | AED 92,500.00 | AED 185,000.00 | AED 277,500.00 | AED 370,000.00 | AED 555,000.00 |
| 25 | AED 117,500.00 | AED 235,000.00 | AED 352,500.00 | AED 470,000.00 | AED 705,000.00 |
| 30 | AED 120,000.00 (capped) | AED 240,000.00 (capped) | AED 360,000.00 (capped) | AED 480,000.00 (capped) | AED 720,000.00 (capped) |
At 25 years, none of the five salary bands has hit the cap yet. By 30 years, every single one has — the “(capped)” marker means the raw accrual would exceed 24 months of basic salary, so the payout is capped at exactly 24 × basic salary instead of the uncapped figure.
How to Calculate Gratuity in UAE for 2 Years
Two years of continuous service is a common milestone to check, since it is the shortest tenure most people ask about beyond the 1-year eligibility minimum. At exactly 2 years, an employee is still within the first tier, so the accrual is straightforward: 21 days per year × 2 years = 42 days of basic salary, with no second-tier days and no risk of hitting the cap.
Here is the full breakdown at 2 years across all five salary bands, with the daily wage shown explicitly:
| Basic salary | Daily wage (basic ÷ 30) | Days accrued | Final gratuity |
|---|---|---|---|
| AED 5,000 | AED 166.67 | 42 | AED 7,000.00 |
| AED 10,000 | AED 333.33 | 42 | AED 14,000.00 |
| AED 15,000 | AED 500.00 | 42 | AED 21,000.00 |
| AED 20,000 | AED 666.67 | 42 | AED 28,000.00 |
| AED 30,000 | AED 1,000.00 | 42 | AED 42,000.00 |
So if you are working out how to calculate gratuity in UAE for 2 years by hand, the formula is: take your basic monthly salary, divide it by 30 to get the daily wage, multiply that daily wage by 42, and that is your gratuity — as long as you have completed the full 2 years and your reason for leaving is either resignation or termination (both are treated identically under the current law, so it makes no difference which one applies to your case).
Why the 24-Month Cap Bites at the Same Point for Every Salary
It is easy to assume higher earners hit the gratuity cap sooner in years worked, but that is not the case. The cap is set at 24 months of basic salary, and the accrual is also expressed in basic-salary days — so the number of years it takes to reach the cap is the same (about 25.5 years, meaning the cap starts to apply from year 26 onward) whether the basic salary is AED 5,000 or AED 50,000. What changes with salary is only the size of the capped payout itself, not how long it takes to reach it.
What Happens When You Cross the 5-Year Mark
The transition from year 5 to year 6 is the single biggest structural change in the entire accrual schedule. Up to and including the fifth full year, every year of service is worth 21 days of basic salary. From the sixth year onward, every additional year is worth 30 days instead — a roughly 43% increase in the marginal value of each extra year worked. This does not retroactively boost the first five years; it only changes the rate applied to years six and beyond. In practical terms, an employee deciding whether to stay for a sixth year is choosing between the 21-day rate and the higher 30-day rate for every year after that point, which is one reason the five-year mark is often treated as a meaningful milestone in UAE employment planning.
Using These Figures Alongside the Full Calculator
The table above uses whole years with no partial months or days, which covers most planning scenarios but will not match your exact position if your tenure includes extra months, unpaid leave, or falls under the domestic worker or older 1980-law regimes. For an exact figure tailored to your own contract dates, salary and circumstances, use the end of service calculator UAE directly. If you are also owed unused annual leave when you leave your role, the leave salary calculator UAE applies the same basic-salary principle to that separate entitlement, and if you want to see how your basic salary and allowances combine into gross and net pay, the salary calculator Dubai breaks that down side by side with your gratuity figure. Employees of MOHRE-registered mainland companies specifically can also check the MOHRE gratuity calculator for the same rules applied with official terminology.
Legal Basis
The accrual rates, the 5-year tier boundary and the 24-month cap used throughout this page all come from Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021 (Art. 51) and its executive regulation, Cabinet Resolution No. 1 of 2022. Domestic workers follow a separate flat 14-days-per-year rate under Federal Decree-Law No. 9 of 2022 and are not covered by the tables above. For the full detail on how resignation, termination and the old 1980-law regime interact with these figures, see the UAE gratuity rules guide.
Ready to work out your own numbers?
Try the full UAE gratuity calculatorFrequently asked questions
How much gratuity do I get after 2 years of service in the UAE?
After exactly 2 years of continuous service, an employee accrues 42 days of basic salary (21 days × 2 years, the first-tier rate). On a basic salary of AED 10,000, that works out to AED 14,000.00. On AED 5,000 basic it is AED 7,000.00, and on AED 30,000 basic it is AED 42,000.00 — the amount always scales in direct proportion to basic salary at any given years of service.
Does gratuity keep increasing every extra year I stay?
Yes. Every additional full year of continuous service adds more accrued days — 21 more days per year while you are within your first 5 years, and 30 more days per year once you pass the 5-year mark. There is no year where staying longer reduces your entitlement, until the 24-month cap is reached.
What changes about my gratuity after I pass 5 years of service?
The accrual rate rises from 21 days of basic salary per year to 30 days per year for every year beyond the fifth. Only the years after the fifth get the higher rate — the first 5 years always stay locked in at 21 days each, so the jump affects the marginal rate going forward, not the years already accrued.
Is there a maximum amount of gratuity I can receive, no matter how long I work?
Yes. Total gratuity is capped at 24 months of basic salary (2 years' worth), regardless of how many years you actually serve. Because the cap is expressed in accrued days (720 days) rather than a fixed sum, it starts to apply at the same length of service — just past 25.5 years — for every basic salary level.
Does this years-of-service table apply to domestic workers too?
No. Domestic workers are covered by a separate accrual rule under Federal Decree-Law No. 9 of 2022 — a flat 14 days of basic salary per year of service, with no first-5-years/beyond-5-years split, and a lower 6-month cap. The table on this page applies to private-sector employees under Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021.