How Much Annual Leave Am I Entitled to in the UAE?

How UAE Annual Leave Is Calculated

Under Article 29 of Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021, a private-sector employee in the UAE builds up annual leave in three bands, based on length of service:

Two details in that table catch people out. Thirty days is calendar days, not working days, so a full year's leave covers roughly a calendar month away, weekends included, not six working weeks. And the 6-to-12-month band is a real entitlement, not a waiting period: an employee at 9 months has already earned 18 days under the 2-days-per-month rule, not zero.

Past the first year, leave accrues at about 2.5 days a month, which is where the 30-day annual figure comes from (30 ÷ 12). Enter your employment start date, contract type, and any leave already taken or carried forward, and the calculator works out where you sit on that scale today.

Reading the result: Total Accrued Leave is what you have earned since your start date. Public Holidays (this calculator uses 14 a year) are added on top, since holidays are separate from annual leave, not part of it. Carried Forward adds unused days agreed from last year, and Leave Taken subtracts what you have already used, giving your Current Balance. Max Carry Forward and Encashment Eligible show how much of that balance a company might let you carry into next year versus cash out now, though the exact split is usually set by company policy rather than the law itself.

Three Worked Examples

The last example is the one that matters most at resignation: leave paid out on termination uses your basic salary only, never your total package with allowances. Using the full package instead of basic pay is the single most common overpayment error in UAE leave encashment.

Public Holidays, Leave, and Pay: What's Separate

Public holidays and annual leave are two different entitlements, and this calculator keeps them as separate line items for that reason. Taking a public holiday off does not use up any of your annual leave balance.

The salary basis also changes depending on why you are being paid. If you take annual leave and stay employed, you are paid your normal salary for those days, basic pay plus the fixed allowances you usually receive. If you leave the company with unused leave, that balance is paid out at your basic salary only, excluding housing, transport, and other allowances. Getting these two the wrong way round is an error worth checking in your last payroll run.

If you are not sure which part of your monthly pay counts as basic salary, see the salary calculator. End-of-service gratuity is calculated the same way, on basic salary only: check the gratuity calculator alongside this one when someone resigns. For the full legal picture on accrual, carry-over, and encashment, read the UAE annual leave guide for employers.

Common Annual Leave Mistakes

• Resetting everyone's leave year on 1 January: statutory entitlement accrues from each employee's own hire date, not a shared calendar year. A company-wide leave year can sit on top for administration, but the underlying accrual is per employee.
• Paying termination encashment on the full salary package: unused leave on termination is calculated on basic salary, not basic plus allowances. The worked example above shows the difference on a single employee running into the thousands of dirhams.
• Treating 30 days as 30 working days: it is 30 calendar days. Once six working weeks of leave has been granted as custom and practice, it is difficult to withdraw.
• Ignoring the 6-to-12-month band: an employee at 9 months has an entitlement of 18 days. Telling them they have none until their first anniversary is wrong.
• Letting balances run unbounded with no written policy: the law prevents an employer from blocking leave for more than two consecutive years, so an unlimited, undocumented balance is usually a sign that requests were being refused rather than a generous policy.

Frequently Asked Questions