Leave Salary Calculator UAE: Annual Leave and Exit Pay

Calculate annual leave pay or exit encashment

Choose whether you are taking paid annual leave or being paid for unused leave when employment ends. Under the current federal private-sector law, these use different wage bases. Enter an agreed leave balance in calendar days. This tool values days; it does not establish your remaining balance from employment dates.

How much annual leave do you get?

As of November 2026, Article 29 of Federal Decree-Law 33 of 2021 sets the full-time entitlement. After one year, the minimum is 30 days for each year of service. When service exceeds six months but is less than a year, it is two days for each month.

Article 29(3) allows the employer to agree to leave from the annual balance during probation. Do not assume that annual leave must always be refused during that period. Ask whether an agreed early leave period will be recorded as annual leave and how the balance will appear.

The law’s wording for the early-service band is more than six months. If your proposed leave falls exactly on that boundary, confirm the credited dates rather than assuming the tool determines eligibility. It only places a value on the days you enter.

Full wage during leave, basic wage on exit

“Basic salary plus housing allowance” is a rule found in older UAE labour material. It is not the current Article 29 wording used on this page. The current law provides full wage for annual leave taken. Basic wage and wage are defined separately in Article 1.

For monthly-paid workers, the calculator combines basic salary with the allowances forming part of wage. Use the contract and payslip to identify them. Do not automatically include a refunded business expense, a discretionary bonus or every bank credit as a fixed wage allowance.

For unused annual leave when you leave the job, Article 29(9) uses basic wage. Executive Regulations Article 19(2) confirms cash allowance for legally due annual leave on that basis. An agreement giving you more favourable rights needs its own check.

Cash compensation while employment continues is another situation. Executive Regulations Article 19(1) allows agreement with the employer for cash allowance according to the wage at entitlement. The exit option above should not be used to impose a basic-only result on every in-service encashment request.

Worked leave salary examples

Assume monthly basic salary of AED 5,000 and monthly wage allowances of AED 3,000. Full monthly wage is AED 8,000. The examples assume the days have already been checked and approved; they do not create a leave balance.

For an early-service entitlement example, assume eight completed months of service and no leave used. The Article 29 band produces 8 × 2 = 16 days. If those days are taken as annual leave on the example full wage, their value is AED 8,000 ÷ 30 × 16 = AED 4,266.67.

For an exit example after the annual entitlement has been established, assume six months of a further leave year and no other adjustment. Proportional accrual is 30 × 6 ÷ 12 = 15 days. Add valid carried days and subtract days already taken before valuing the final balance.

Keep money values unrounded until the final step. If payroll’s amount differs, first compare whether both calculations use the same days and wage basis. A difference between full salary and basic salary is often more significant than a small rounding difference.

Reconcile your unused leave balance

Ask for a leave statement showing the opening balance, accrual, annual leave taken, cash payments already made and closing balance. Keep approvals and payslips together. A balance displayed in a staff app may use working days while your contract describes calendar days.

1. Identify the leave year used by your employer.
2. Check the service period credited to that leave year.
3. Add any valid carried balance.
4. Subtract annual leave actually used and days already encashed.
5. Resolve whether the balance is in calendar days before using this calculator.

Article 29(7) includes public holidays or agreed holidays falling inside annual leave unless the contract or work rules are more favourable. Do not automatically remove weekends and public holidays from a calendar-day leave period. Check the start and return dates shown in your approval.

Where a company uses working-day leave, ask for the written conversion or its more favourable policy. Entering a working-day balance directly into a calendar-day cash formula can give a misleading answer. This tool deliberately asks for an agreed calendar-day balance instead of guessing the conversion.

Taking leave and carrying days forward

Article 29 says leave should be used in the year it is due. The employer may arrange dates according to work needs and in agreement with the worker, and should give at least one month’s notice of the specified dates. Keep agreed dates in writing before booking around them.

Carry-forward is subject to the law, implementing rules and employer agreement. Executive Regulations Article 19 allows no more than half of annual leave to be carried into the following year, or agreed cash allowance. Do not assume unused days can accumulate indefinitely without a recorded arrangement.

The UAE government annual-leave page also explains the restriction on preventing use for more than two consecutive years, subject to the employee’s carry-forward or cash choice under the rules. Keep requests and any refusals if a balance remains unresolved.

Leave pay in your final settlement

Keep unused leave separate from end-of-service gratuity. Gratuity has its own service threshold and rates; its result does not include the cash value of untaken leave. Also reconcile unpaid overtime and wages for the final pay period.

Article 53 requires termination wages and other entitlements within 14 days after the contract ends. Request an itemised statement before treating a single bank transfer as a complete settlement. If the wage basis or leave balance remains disputed, ask MOHRE or the competent employment authority to assess the records.

This calculator does not cover DIFC, ADGM, government employment or domestic work. Nor does it decide variable-pay or part-time balances. Identify the applicable regime first, then use its leave rules and payroll definitions.

SettleUAE is an independent guide, not a government website, and is not affiliated with any UAE authority. This is general information, not personal legal, financial or immigration advice.