End-of-service gratuity in the Gulf: all six countries compared

By Zulu Calculator · Updated 19 October 2026 · Gulf jobs

All six Gulf countries pay an end-of-service gratuity based on your years of service and your last monthly salary, with part years paid in proportion. What changes is the rate per year, which salary counts, whether there is a cap, and whether resigning cuts it. For the same 7 years of service ending in December 2025, the law gives 4.5 months' pay in Saudi Arabia, 4.88 in Kuwait, 4.9 in Qatar, and 5.5 in the UAE, Oman and Bahrain, before you look at which salary those months are counted on.

This guide puts the six countries side by side and shows the same worker under each set of rules. To work out your own figure, use the calculator for your country: Qatar, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman or Bahrain.

How does end-of-service gratuity compare across the Gulf?

This table covers private-sector workers, mostly expats. Every country lets your contract give you more than the law, never less.

In every country, part years are paid in proportion and days of unpaid leave do not count as service. Our calculators count service from your joining date to your last working day, both days included. Bahrain's Article 116 rates were checked against the LMRA's English text of the law; the SIO scheme details are not yet checked against sio.gov.bh.lmra.gov.bh and sio.gov.bh, so treat that row as a guide only.

How do you compare gratuity fairly between countries?

The six currencies are worth very different amounts, so comparing QAR 30,000 with KWD 3,000 tells you little. A fairer way is to count the gratuity in months of the salary that counts. Every formula can be written that way:

gratuity = months earned × the monthly salary that counts
Qatar: 0.7 × years (21 days ÷ 30)
UAE: 0.7 × first 5 years + 1 × years after, at most 24
Saudi Arabia: 0.5 × first 5 years + 1 × years after
Kuwait: 15 ÷ 26 × first 5 years + 1 × years after, at most 18
Oman: 1 × years from 31 July 2023 (old years: 0.5 × first 3 + 1 × rest)
Bahrain: 0.5 × first 3 years + 1 × years after

Kuwait's 15 days are worth 15 ÷ 26 = 0.577 of a month, because the daily wage there is usually the monthly wage ÷ 26. Some Kuwaiti employers divide by 30, which gives 0.5.

Months of pay by length of service

The employer ends the contract, and service ends on 31 December 2025. Each figure is in months of the salary that counts in that country.

Oman's figures are below a full month a year because service before 31 July 2023 still earns the old half-month rate for the first three years. Someone whose whole service is after that date gets exactly 1 month a year. Which rate applies to earlier years is still argued over, and some employers pay the new rate for all years, which gives more; see the Oman guide. Kuwait reaches its 18-month cap after about 20 years; the UAE reaches its 24-month cap after 25.5 years.

Worked examples

Example 1: the same 7 years in each country

You joined on 1 January 2019 and your last working day is 31 December 2025: exactly 7 years, no unpaid leave. Your employer ends the contract.

• Qatar: 7 × 0.7 = 4.9 months of basic.
• UAE: 5 × 0.7 + 2 × 1 = 3.5 + 2 = 5.5 months of basic, well under the 24-month cap.
• Saudi Arabia: 5 × 0.5 + 2 × 1 = 2.5 + 2 = 4.5 months of wage.
• Kuwait: 5 × 15 ÷ 26 = 2.8846, plus 2 × 1 = 2, makes 4.88 months of wage.
• Oman: 4 years, 6 months and 30 days fall before 31 July 2023, which is 4.582 years. The first 3 earn 3 × 0.5 = 1.5 months; the other 1.582 years earn 1.582 months; the 2.418 years from 31 July 2023 earn 2.418 months. In all, 1.5 + 1.582 + 2.418 = 5.5 months of basic.
• Bahrain: 3 × 0.5 + 4 × 1 = 1.5 + 4 = 5.5 months of wage. Of that, your employer pays 3⅔ months for the 5 years and 2 months before 1 March 2024, and the SIO pays 1⅚ months for the 1 year and 10 months since.

Example 2: the same worker, with allowances

Now say your pay is 10,000 a month in local currency, of which 6,000 is basic and 4,000 is housing and transport. Same 7 years.

• Qatar: 4.9 × 6,000 = 29,400, which is 2.94 months of your full pay.
• UAE: 5.5 × 6,000 = 33,000, or 3.30 months of full pay.
• Oman: 5.5 × 6,000 = 33,000, or 3.30 months of full pay.
• Saudi Arabia: 4.5 × 10,000 = 45,000, or 4.50 months.
• Kuwait: 28,846.15 for the first 5 years (75 ÷ 26 × 10,000) plus 20,000 = 48,846.15, or 4.88 months.
• Bahrain: 5.5 × 10,000 = 55,000, or 5.50 months.

So once allowances are counted, the order flips: Qatar goes from the middle to the bottom, and Saudi Arabia and Kuwait move above the UAE and Oman. If your Saudi, Kuwaiti or Bahraini contract says end of service is on basic only, use the 6,000 there too.

Example 3: resigning after 4 years

You worked from 1 January 2022 to 31 December 2025, exactly 4 years, and you resign.

• Qatar and UAE: 4 × 0.7 = 2.8 months of basic. Resigning changes nothing.
• Saudi Arabia: full award 4 × 0.5 = 2 months; with 2 to 5 years you keep one third, so 0.67 of a month.
• Kuwait: full indemnity 4 × 15 ÷ 26 = 2.308 months; with 3 to 5 years you keep half, so 1.15 months.
• Oman: 1.582 years before 31 July 2023 at half a month = 0.791, plus 2.418 years at a month = 2.418, makes 3.21 months of basic, with no cut as far as is known.
• Bahrain: 3 × 0.5 + 1 × 1 = 2.5 months, with no cut under the 2012 law.

With under 2 years the Saudi worker would get nothing, and the Kuwaiti worker nothing under 3 years. That is the biggest single difference between the six countries.

Which salary counts: basic or full pay?

• Basic only: Qatar, the UAE and Oman. Housing, transport and other allowances are left out unless your contract includes them.
• Wage with allowances: Saudi Arabia uses the actual wage, basic plus fixed allowances such as housing and transport. Kuwait and Bahrain use the last wage with regular allowances. In all three, a contract can say basic only.

If your basic is a small share of your pay, a lower rate on full pay can beat a higher rate on basic, as Example 2 shows.

Who pays: employer, SIO or a savings fund?

• Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait: your employer pays the whole sum when you leave. In Saudi Arabia, expats pay nothing into GOSI and still get the award; Kuwaiti nationals in the PIFSS social security scheme may have parts of their indemnity handled differently.
• UAE: your employer pays, except in the DIFC, where gratuity stopped building up on 1 February 2020 and employers now pay 5.83% of basic a month under 5 years and 8.33% after into DEWS or another plan. Mainland employers can choose a similar voluntary savings scheme (Cabinet Resolution No. 96 of 2023). Gratuity earned before a switch is still owed.
• Oman: your employer pays until the Social Protection Fund's savings system for expats starts on 19 July 2027 (moved from July 2026 by Royal Decree 60/2025). Employers will then pay 9% of the monthly basic wage into the fund, with a return of at least 2% a year.
• Bahrain: since 1 March 2024, employers pay the SIO 4.2% of the wage a month in the first 3 years and 8.4% after; the SIO pays the award for service after that date, not more than the contributions paid in. Your employer still owes the part earned before. These SIO details are widely quoted but not yet checked against sio.gov.bh.

Nationals usually get pension rights instead: Qatari nationals in the state pension scheme, Omani workers through the Social Protection Fund and Bahraini workers through the social insurance pension scheme.

Common mistakes

• Comparing amounts across currencies. Compare months of pay, and check which salary each country counts.
• Assuming resigning is always safe. It is in Qatar and the UAE, but in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait leaving a few weeks early can cost you most of the sum.
• Using the wrong daily wage. Qatar, the UAE and Oman divide basic by 30. Kuwait usually divides by 26.
• Forgetting caps. Long service in the UAE or Kuwait stops adding once you hit 24 or 18 months.
• Ignoring the switch dates. Oman's 31 July 2023 and Bahrain's 1 March 2024 split your service into two parts.

What if my employer pays less or disagrees?

1. Ask for the working in writing: the dates, the salary used and the rate per year.
2. Check your contract. If it promises more than the law, the contract applies.
3. Run your own figure on your country's calculator and take the share link to HR.
4. Go to the labour authority if you still disagree: Qatar's Ministry of Labour, MOHRE in the UAE, HRSD in Saudi Arabia, PAM in Kuwait, the Ministry of Labour in Oman, or the LMRA or SIO in Bahrain.

Quick summary

• Everyone gets paid by years of service on the last salary, part years in proportion.
• For 7 years or more, the UAE, Oman and Bahrain give the most months; Saudi Arabia and Bahrain have the lowest rate in the early years (half a month a year), though Qatar and the UAE pay nothing under one year.
• Basic only in Qatar, the UAE and Oman; wage with allowances in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Bahrain.
• Caps only in the UAE (24 months) and Kuwait (18 months).
• Resigning cuts it only in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.
• Bahrain (since March 2024) and Oman (from July 2027) are moving expat end-of-service into state funds.

For one country in depth, read the guides for Qatar, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain.

Rules checked against Qatar Labour Law No. 14 of 2004, UAE Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021, the Saudi Labor Law, Kuwait Labour Law No. 6 of 2010 and Oman Royal Decree 53/2023, as used by our calculators (checked 9–11 October 2026). Bahrain's Labour Law No. 36 of 2012 (Art. 116) was checked against the LMRA's English text on 11 October 2026; the SIO scheme details are not yet checked against sio.gov.bh.

This guide explains the rules in plain English for planning. It is not legal, financial or flight-operations advice; check your contract, the official source linked above, your employer or your operator.