Gratuity Calculator Sharjah

How Gratuity Works for Sharjah Employees

Sharjah is the UAE’s third-largest emirate by both population and economy, with a business mix leaning heavily on manufacturing, trading, and logistics, helped by being the only emirate with ports on both the Arabian Gulf and the Indian Ocean coasts. Whether you work for a mainland Sharjah company, SAIF Zone, or Hamriyah Free Zone, the same federal gratuity law applies. Unlike Dubai or Abu Dhabi, Sharjah has no DIFC- or ADGM-style financial free zone running its own separate employment rules, so there’s no exception to keep track of here.

Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021 governs gratuity for every private-sector employee in Sharjah, with Article 51 setting out the formula.

The Gratuity Formula in Sharjah

Your gratuity is based on your basic monthly salary and your length of service, not your total pay package. Here’s how it works:

1. 1
   Work out your daily wage: basic monthly salary divided by 30.
2. 2
   For each of your first 5 years of service, you earn 21 days of that daily wage.
3. 3
   For every year beyond year 5, you earn 30 days of that daily wage instead.
4. 4
   Add the two parts together. If the result is more than 2 years’ basic salary, the payout is capped at that amount.

Only basic salary counts toward this calculation. Housing allowance, transport allowance, commissions, bonuses, and overtime pay are all excluded, even though they might make up a large part of your total monthly income.

Worked Example for This Emirate

Say you earn AED 8,500 basic salary a month in Sharjah and you’re leaving after 7 years of service. It doesn’t matter whether you resigned or were terminated, since current law treats both the same.

Resigned Early? You Still Get Full Gratuity

Older articles and some HR staff still describe a rule where resigning before 5 years cost you a chunk of your gratuity. That’s no longer true. Since the current law took effect in February 2022, resignation and termination are treated identically, as long as you’ve completed at least one year of service. Under the old law (pre-2022), resigning between 1 and 3 years only paid a third of your entitlement, and between 3 and 5 years only two-thirds. That distinction is gone. For the full comparison, see our old law vs new law guide.

Sharjah Free Zones: SAIF Zone and Hamriyah Free Zone

Sharjah’s two major free zones, Sharjah Airport International Free Zone (SAIF Zone) and Hamriyah Free Zone, both follow the same Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021 formula covered on this page. There’s no separate calculation for free zone employees here, unlike DIFC or ADGM in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. The main practical difference is administrative: your labour file is handled through the free zone authority rather than directly through MOHRE, but the gratuity math and your rights are identical either way. Always double check your specific employment contract, since individual employers can offer enhanced terms on top of the legal minimum.

Eligibility Rules That Apply in Sharjah

The same eligibility rules apply here as anywhere else in the UAE:

• You need at least one year of continuous service to qualify for any gratuity.
• Unpaid or unauthorized leave days don’t count toward your service period.
• If you’re dismissed for gross misconduct under Article 44, you can lose your gratuity entitlement.
• A partial final year of service is paid pro-rata once you’ve cleared the one-year minimum.

What to Do if Your Employer Doesn’t Pay in Sharjah

Your employer has 14 days from your last working day to settle your gratuity, under Article 53. If they miss that deadline or refuse to pay, the process in Sharjah runs through MOHRE first: you file a wage or gratuity complaint through the MOHRE app, hotline, or a service center, and MOHRE attempts an amicable settlement between you and your employer. If that doesn’t work, MOHRE refers the case to the labour circuit at the Sharjah courts, where you’ll need your employment contract, Emirates ID, salary records, and WPS evidence to support your claim. For the full step-by-step process, see our guide on what to do if your employer won’t pay your gratuity.