UAE Notice Period Explained (And How It Affects Gratuity)
The standard UAE notice period is 30 to 90 days, set in your employment contract, and applies whether you’re resigning or being terminated. It doesn’t change your gratuity formula directly, but not serving it can mean a deduction from your final settlement, and the days you work during your notice period still count toward your service.
The Standard Notice Period
Under Article 43 of Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021, either you or your employer can end your employment contract for a legitimate reason, provided written notice is given. The notice period itself must be between 30 and 90 days, whatever your specific contract sets out, and it applies the same way regardless of who’s ending the contract or why. Your contract stays fully in force during this period: you keep working, keep getting paid your normal wage, and your gratuity and leave continue to accrue as usual.
If either side wants to end things faster than the full notice period, they can pay the other side “in lieu of notice” instead, covering the wage for the unserved portion. Your employer can also place you on garden leave during this period, meaning you’re kept on payroll and continue accruing gratuity and leave, without being expected to actually show up and work, if they’d rather you not be in the workplace during your notice.
Notice During Probation Works Differently
If you’re still within your probation period, capped at 6 months under Article 9, different and shorter notice rules apply depending on what you’re doing next:
- Employer terminates you during probation: 14 days’ written notice.
- You resign during probation to join another UAE employer: 30 days’ written notice. The new employer typically reimburses your old employer’s recruitment costs, this cannot be charged to you.
- You resign during probation to leave the UAE entirely: 14 days’ written notice.
One detail that surprises people: if you resign even a day or two before your probation officially ends, these probation-specific notice rules still apply, based on the date you submitted your resignation, not the date probation was due to finish.
Payment in Lieu of Notice Uses a Different Salary Base Than Gratuity
This is a genuinely important distinction.
How Notice Affects Your Gratuity
Here’s the direct answer to the question in this page’s title: your notice period doesn’t change the gratuity formula itself, 21 days per year for the first five years, 30 days after that, still applies exactly the same way. But it affects your outcome in two real ways:
- Time worked during your notice period still counts as service. If serving your notice pushes your total tenure past a meaningful threshold, say from 4 years 11 months to just over 5 years, that matters, since the gratuity rate steps up from 21 to 30 days per year once you cross the 5-year mark.
- Failing to serve required notice can cost you money from your settlement. If you leave without giving the required notice and your employer didn’t agree to waive it, they can deduct an amount equal to the wage for the unserved notice period from what you’re owed, potentially including from your gratuity or other final settlement components. This is a lawful deduction, not a penalty on top of what you owe.
There’s also a separate consequence worth knowing about if you’re leaving the UAE altogether: departing without observing your notice obligations can result in a one-year ban on getting a new UAE work permit, though several exemption categories exist, including Golden Visa holders and certain family-sponsored visa holders.
Is Notice Period Based on My Labour Card or My MOHRE Contract?
This is a genuine point of confusion, since some employers mistakenly reference labour card dates when working out notice obligations. UAE employment lawyers have confirmed directly that the contract, not the card, is the legal document that sets your notice terms. See our guide to the UAE labour card for more on what the card actually does and doesn’t govern.
FAQs
This page provides general information about UAE notice period rules and is not legal advice. For a specific situation, consult MOHRE or a licensed UAE labour lawyer.
For everything else included in your exit payout, see our final settlement guide, or use the UAE gratuity calculator on the homepage.
