Domestic workers in the UAE, including maids, nannies, drivers, cooks, and gardeners, are entitled to gratuity after completing one year of service, paid within 10 days of the contract ending. They’re covered by a separate law from other private-sector employees, and the exact calculation is less clearly fixed in the law’s text than most calculators online suggest.
Domestic Workers Have Their Own Law
Domestic workers aren’t covered by the standard 21/30-day formula under Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021 that applies to office and retail employees. Instead, they fall under Federal Decree-Law No. 9 of 2022 Concerning Domestic Workers, which replaced the earlier Federal Law No. 10 of 2017. This separate law covers 19 recognized categories of domestic work, including housemaids, nannies, private drivers, cooks, gardeners, security guards, personal caregivers, and private tutors, among others.
Domestic workers also have their own rules around weekly rest days, mandatory medical insurance from day one of employment, salary payment through the Wage Protection System, and a minimum age requirement, all set out separately from the main Labour Law that governs office and retail staff.
Eligibility and the 10-Day Payment Window
A domestic worker qualifies for gratuity after completing at least one year of continuous service with the same employer. If the worker resigns without a legally valid reason before completing their contract, or is dismissed for a serious breach, gratuity can be denied. If the employer ends the contract without cause, or the contract simply expires, the worker is generally entitled to their gratuity in full. Domestic workers who resign because of employer mistreatment, non-payment of wages, or contract breaches on the employer’s side retain their right to gratuity even if they leave before the contract term ends, since the fault lies with the employer in that scenario.
Under Article 19 of Federal Decree-Law No. 9 of 2022, the employer must settle all end-of-service dues, including gratuity, within 10 days of the contract ending, a shorter window than the 14 days given to standard private-sector employers.
What This Formula Confirmed and What Isn’t
This is where we want to be direct with you, because a lot of gratuity calculators online are more confident about this number than the law itself currently is.
Almost every domestic worker gratuity calculator you’ll find uses a rate of 14 days of basic wage per year of service. That figure comes from Article 26 of the old 2017 law, which was repealed when Federal Decree-Law No. 9 of 2022 took effect. The 2022 law that’s currently in force does not itself spell out a gratuity calculation formula. Instead, Article 22 states that the Cabinet, on the Minister’s recommendation, will adopt separate rules and regulations for calculating and paying end-of-service gratuity for domestic workers. Based on legal commentary we reviewed, the executive regulations issued to implement the 2022 law (Cabinet Resolution No. 106 of 2022) did not specifically set out that formula either, which has led some UAE employment lawyers to conclude that, strictly speaking, there’s no separately codified gratuity formula for domestic workers currently written into law, distinct from the 14-day figure carried over informally from the repealed 2017 law.
In practice, this doesn’t mean domestic workers are being left without gratuity. MOHRE itself provides an official domestic worker gratuity calculator through its website (mohre.gov.ae, under Services), which factors in basic and net salary, working period, reason for contract termination, unused annual leave, overtime, and other specifics of the case. Most employers, agencies, and recruitment offices continue to apply the 14-day-per-year rate as the practical standard. But because we couldn’t independently verify a specific, currently codified Cabinet Resolution setting that exact rate under the 2022 law, we’re presenting it here as the widely used practical benchmark, not as a guaranteed legal entitlement you can rely on without confirmation.
Our recommendation: use MOHRE’s own domestic worker calculator or contact MOHRE directly (hotline 600 590 000) to confirm the exact figure that applies to your specific case, especially if a significant amount of money or a dispute is involved.
Illustrative Example Using the 14-Day Benchmark
To show how the commonly used 14-day rate works in practice, here’s a worked example. This is illustrative only, based on the practical benchmark described above, not a confirmed legal guarantee.
Say a domestic worker earns AED 2,200 basic salary a month and completes 3 years of service.
| Step | Calculation | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Daily wage | 2,200 ÷ 30 | AED 73.33 |
| Annual gratuity at 14-day rate | 73.33 × 14 days | AED 1,026.67 |
Compare this to how the same salary and tenure would be treated under the standard 21-day private-sector rate (which doesn’t apply to domestic workers, but is useful for context): 73.33 × 21 × 3 = AED 4,620. The domestic worker rate, if 14 days is confirmed as correct in your case, comes out noticeably lower than the standard private-sector formula for the same years of service.
Who Pays: Direct Employer vs. Agency
Who’s responsible for gratuity depends on how the domestic worker was hired.
- Direct employment. If you hired the worker directly, without going through a licensed agency, you as the employer are responsible for paying the end-of-service gratuity yourself.
- Agency recruitment. If the worker was placed through a licensed domestic worker recruitment agency (sometimes called a Tadbeer center), the agency typically handles the gratuity payment as part of its ongoing obligations under the placement arrangement.
If you’re unsure which applies to your situation, your original recruitment contract or Tadbeer center agreement should specify this. When in doubt, MOHRE can clarify who’s responsible in a specific case.
Gratuity Isn’t the Whole Final Settlement
Just as with standard private-sector employees, gratuity is only one part of what a domestic worker is owed when employment ends. A full settlement typically also includes any unpaid salary up to the last working day, payment for unused annual leave, and a return airfare home where the contract or law requires one. MOHRE’s own domestic worker calculator factors in several of these components together, including unused leave, overtime, and any work-injury considerations, rather than isolating gratuity as a standalone figure. If you’re comparing a settlement offer against what you expected, make sure you’re comparing the full package, not just the gratuity line, against your own estimate.
What to Do If You’re Not Sure What You’re Owed
Given the genuine uncertainty around the exact formula, the safest path for both domestic workers and employers is to use MOHRE’s own domestic worker calculator directly, keep the calculation in writing as part of the final settlement, and raise any dispute with MOHRE early rather than assuming an online calculator’s number is guaranteed. If a settlement doesn’t get paid within the 10-day window, or the amount is disputed, MOHRE handles domestic worker complaints the same way it handles other labour disputes, starting with an amicable resolution attempt before referral to court if needed.
FAQs
Yes. Domestic workers are entitled to end-of-service gratuity after completing at least one year of continuous service, under Federal Decree-Law No. 9 of 2022, separate from the standard private-sector law.
Most calculators and employers use a rate of 14 days of basic wage per year of service, a figure carried over from the repealed 2017 domestic workers law. The current 2022 law defers the specific formula to a Cabinet Resolution, and we couldn’t independently confirm a specific rate has been formally codified since. Use MOHRE’s official domestic worker calculator or contact MOHRE directly to confirm the figure that applies to your case.
Yes, either way, but who pays differs. If you hired directly, you’re responsible for the gratuity payment. If the worker came through a licensed recruitment agency or Tadbeer center, the agency typically handles it as part of the placement agreement.
We looked into this specifically and couldn’t find a credible source confirming a “3.33” multiplier as an actual domestic worker gratuity rule. Our best guess is that this may come from confusion with the AED 333.33 daily-wage figure that commonly appears in standard private-sector gratuity examples (based on a AED 10,000 monthly salary divided by 30), not a domestic-worker-specific formula. We’d treat any “3.33” figure you see elsewhere with real skepticism until it’s confirmed against an official MOHRE source.
This page provides general information about UAE domestic worker gratuity rules and is not legal advice. Given the genuine ambiguity in how the current law’s gratuity provisions have been implemented, we’d strongly recommend confirming your specific entitlement with MOHRE or a licensed UAE labour lawyer before relying on any calculated figure, from this site or any other.
For gratuity rules covering standard private-sector employees, Checkgratuityuae is committed to provide you latest information’s and tools. See our UAE gratuity calculator on the homepage. If your employer hasn’t paid within the required window, see our guide on what to do if your employer won’t pay your gratuity.