UAE Annual Leave Calculator

Annual Leave Entitlement

30 days of paid annual leave for each year of service, once one year of service is completed (Article 29(1)(a)). The law sets a minimum: a contract or company policy may grant more, never less.

2 days for each month of service when the service is more than six months and less than a year (Article 29(1)(b)). The month is the statutory 30-day month of Article 67.

Six months of service or less: no statutory annual leave has accrued yet, because the monthly band opens only once the service is more than six months. The employer may agree to grant leave from the annual balance during probation (Article 29(3)).

These figures are for full-time contracts under the federal private-sector Labour Law; part-time work is covered further down.

How Annual Leave Accrues

After the first year, leave accrues in proportion to the time served: the current, unfinished service year earns leave pro rata (Article 29(1)(c)). This calculator adds 30 days for each completed year and 30 days multiplied by the part of the current year already served.

Your balance is the accrued days minus the leave you have taken. Public holidays prescribed by law or agreement that fall within your annual leave count as part of it, unless the contract or the establishment’s regulations are more favourable to the worker (Article 29(7)).

Leave Salary: Which Wage Is Used

Annual leave you take is paid at the full wage: the basic wage plus the cash allowances and benefits in kind allocated under the contract. Article 29(1) grants annual leave “with full wage”, Article 29(6) entitles the worker to the wage for the period of the leave, and Article 1 defines the wage as the basic wage plus those allowances.

Unused leave paid out when the employment ends is calculated on the basic wage only, without allowances (Article 29(9); Cabinet Resolution No. 1 of 2022, Article 19(2)).

Leave cashed out during the employment, by agreement with the employer instead of carrying it forward, is paid according to the wage the worker receives when the leave falls due (Cabinet Resolution No. 1 of 2022, Article 19(1)).

This calculator applies the end-of-employment rule and values unused days on the basic wage. It does not calculate the pay for leave you take, which is your usual full wage for the leave days.

Leave Encashment When Employment Ends

If employment ends before the accrued leave is used, the worker is entitled to a cash allowance for the unused days, regardless of their number, including the pro-rata days of the final part-year (Article 29(9)). A worker who does not pass probation keeps the right to be paid for the rest of the annual leave balance (Article 29(3)).

The allowance is calculated on the BASIC wage, not the full package: allowances such as housing and transport are excluded. Article 67 defines the month as 30 days, so the value of one leave day is the monthly basic salary divided by 30.

Value of unused days = monthly basic salary ÷ 30 × unused days. On a basic salary of AED 9,000, ten unused days are worth AED 9,000 ÷ 30 × 10 = AED 3,000.

Carry-Forward and Company Rules

Leave is meant to be taken in its entitlement year; the employer schedules it according to work requirements and must notify the worker at least a month in advance (Article 29(4)).

With the employer’s approval and under the establishment’s own regulations, the worker may carry the annual leave balance, or part of it, forward to the following year (Article 29(5)). The Implementing Regulation caps the carry-forward at not more than half of the annual leave, or the worker may agree with the employer to take a cash allowance for it instead (Cabinet Resolution No. 1 of 2022, Article 19(1)).

The employer may not prevent the worker from using leave accrued for more than two years, unless the worker chooses to carry it forward or to receive a cash allowance for it under the establishment’s regulations (Article 29(8)).

8 months of service

8 months × 2 days per month (Article 29(1)(b))

16 days accrued

1 year and 181 days of service

1 year × 30 days + 181/365 of a year × 30 days (Article 29(1)(a) and (c))

≈ 44.88 days accrued

10 unused days on AED 9,000 basic

AED 9,000 ÷ 30 × 10 days (Article 29(9))

AED 3,000 encashment value

What is the annual leave entitlement in the UAE?

30 fully paid days for each year of service once one year is completed. Between six months and one year of service the entitlement is 2 days for each month of service (Article 29(1) of Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021). A contract may grant more, never less.

When does annual leave start to accrue?

The statutory 2-days-a-month band applies once the service term is more than six months. Before that, no statutory annual leave has accrued, although a contract may grant leave earlier.

What does UAE labour law say about leave salary?

Annual leave you take is paid at the full wage, basic salary plus allowances (Articles 1, 29(1) and 29(6) of Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021). Unused leave paid out when the employment ends is calculated on the basic wage (Article 29(9); Cabinet Resolution No. 1 of 2022, Article 19(2)).

Is unused annual leave paid on basic salary or total salary?

On the basic wage. Article 29(9) states that the allowance for accrued leave days not used before leaving work is calculated according to the basic wage.

How does leave encashment work in the UAE?

When the employment ends, the employer pays cash for every accrued leave day not taken, including the pro-rata days of the final part-year (Article 29(9)). The amount is the monthly basic salary divided by 30, multiplied by the unused days; the 30-day divisor comes from Article 67. On a basic salary of AED 9,000, 10 unused days are worth AED 3,000. During the employment, cash instead of leave needs an agreement with the employer (Cabinet Resolution No. 1 of 2022, Article 19(1)).

Do I get paid for a part of a year I worked?

Yes. The worker is entitled to leave for the parts of the last year spent at work, in proportion to the period served, and it is paid on the basic wage (Article 29(1)(c) and 29(9)).

Can annual leave be carried forward to the next year?

Only with the employer’s approval and under the establishment’s regulations (Article 29(5)). The employer may not prevent the use of leave accrued for more than two years unless the worker opts to carry it forward or cash it out (Article 29(8)).

Do public holidays during my annual leave count as leave days?

Holidays prescribed by law or agreement that fall within the annual leave are counted as part of it, unless the contract or the establishment’s regulations are more favourable to the worker (Article 29(7)).

Is there Hajj leave in the UAE private sector?

Not as a statutory right. Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021 and its Implementing Regulation (Cabinet Resolution No. 1 of 2022) contain no Hajj leave, and the Decree-Law repealed the earlier labour law, Federal Law No. 8 of 1980 (Article 73(1)). An employer may grant time off for Hajj by contract or company policy, from the worker’s annual leave, or as unpaid leave with the employer’s approval (Article 33(1)), which does not count towards the service period (Article 33(2)). The u.ae page on private-sector leave still describes an unpaid Hajj leave of up to 30 days, once with the same employer; the current Decree-Law has no such article.