Leave Salary Calculator UAE

Two Different Calculations, Not One in This Calculator

This is the detail most people miss. “Leave salary” isn’t a single formula, it’s two different calculations depending on when it applies:

• Taking leave while employed: paid on your full wage, including basic salary and any fixed monthly allowances like housing and transport, under Article 29.
• Encashing unused leave when you leave: paid on basic salary only, the same rule that applies to gratuity, under Article 29(9).

Mixing these up in either direction produces the wrong number, whether you’re an employee estimating what you’re owed or an employer running payroll.

How Annual Leave Accrues

Under Article 29 of Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021, your leave entitlement builds up on this schedule:

• Under 6 months of service: no statutory annual leave entitlement yet.
• 6 months to 1 year: 2 days of leave accrued for each completed month.
• After 1 full year: 30 calendar days of paid leave per year, accruing proportionally through the year.

Probation counts toward this accrual, it isn’t lost time, so most employees start earning leave right around when a standard 6-month probation period ends.

Formula and Example: Taking Leave

While you’re employed and taking leave, the calculation uses your full monthly wage:

Say your total monthly package is AED 12,000 and you’re taking 15 days of annual leave.

Formula and Example: Encashing Unused Leave

If you leave your job with unused leave days remaining, those get paid out on basic salary only:

Say your basic salary is AED 8,000 and you have 10 unused leave days when you resign.

This applies the same way whether you resigned or were terminated, since leave already accrued isn’t affected by how your employment ended.

The Calendar Days Trap

On the mainland federal system, your 30 days of annual leave are calendar days, not working days, so weekends and public holidays that happen to fall within your leave still count toward the total. This surprises a lot of employees who expect their time off to stretch further. Free zones like DIFC and ADGM typically work differently, often granting a set number of working days instead, which excludes weekends. Which rule applies to you depends on where your employment is actually registered.