Saudi law pays half a month's wage per year for the first five years and a full month after that, with no cap. The catch is resignation: leave on your own before 10 years and you lose between one third and all of it. The February 2025 Labor Law amendments did not change these fractions. Calculate yours below, with the working shown.
The law uses your actual last wage: basic plus fixed allowances such as housing (Article 2), unless your contract excludes commissions and variable pay (Article 86). Many employers use basic + housing + transport.
Estimate of the legal minimum only. Contracts and company policies can pay more, employers may deduct amounts you owe, and free-zone or government employers can follow different rules. Not legal advice.
Award = wage × (0.5 × years up to 5 + 1 × years after 5) × resignation fraction
5.0 years × 0.50 month + 2.5 years × 1.00 month = 5.000 months of wage. SAR 10,000 × 5.000 = SAR 50,000.
| Situation | Minimum service | What is paid |
|---|---|---|
| Termination by employer or contract expiry | Any service, pro rata | Full award |
| Resignation, under 2 years | — | Nothing |
| Resignation, 2 to 5 years | 2 years | One third |
| Resignation, over 5 and under 10 years | 5 years | Two thirds |
| Resignation, 10 years or more | 10 years | Full award |
| Force majeure; woman leaving within 6 months of marriage or 3 months of childbirth | Any | Full award (Art. 87) |
| Dismissal under Article 80 | Any | No award |
Finding: only before two years. After that you keep a third, and after five years two thirds. The cost of resigning is largest just before the 10-year line: at 9 years 11 months the resignation award is one third smaller than the full award you would get a month later. On a SAR 10,000 wage that gap is about SAR 25,600.
| Service | Saudi Arabia, ended by employer | Saudi Arabia, resigned | UAE (basic) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 year | 0.50 | 0.00 | 0.70 |
| 2 years | 1.00 | 0.33 | 1.40 |
| 3 years | 1.50 | 0.50 | 2.10 |
| 5 years | 2.50 | 0.83 | 3.50 |
| 7 years | 4.50 | 3.00 | 5.50 |
| 10 years | 7.50 | 7.50 | 8.50 |
| 15 years | 12.50 | 12.50 | 13.50 |
| 20 years | 17.50 | 17.50 | 18.50 |
| 25 years | 22.50 | 22.50 | 23.50 |
Calculated by KalQLater from the articles cited below. UAE figures use Article 51 of Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021. Wage definitions differ: Saudi Arabia's base is described in the calculator, the UAE's is basic salary only, so equal months do not mean equal money.
| Monthly wage | 3 yrs | 5 yrs | 10 yrs | 20 yrs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SAR 5,000 | SAR 7,500 | SAR 12,500 | SAR 37,500 | SAR 87,500 |
| SAR 10,000 | SAR 15,000 | SAR 25,000 | SAR 75,000 | SAR 175,000 |
| SAR 20,000 | SAR 30,000 | SAR 50,000 | SAR 150,000 | SAR 350,000 |
| SAR 40,000 | SAR 60,000 | SAR 100,000 | SAR 300,000 | SAR 700,000 |
Download all six Gulf countries: gcc-gratuity-months-by-tenure.csv (CC BY 4.0, please link to this page)
Service is counted in calendar days between your joining date and last working day, inclusive, minus unpaid days, and converted to years at 365 days. Each band of service is multiplied by its statutory rate in months of wage, then any cap and resignation fraction is applied. Part years are pro rata where the law allows it.
Not modelled: contractual terms better than the law, free-zone or government schemes, deductions for amounts owed, and court or settlement outcomes. Results are estimates, not legal advice.
Under Article 84 of the Labor Law, the award is half a month's wage for each of the first five years of service and one month's wage for each year after that, based on the last wage. Part years are paid pro rata. There is no cap.
Article 85: nothing with less than 2 years of service; one third of the award with 2 to 5 years; two thirds with more than 5 but less than 10 years; the full award with 10 years or more.
No. The amendments in force from 19 February 2025 changed the resignation procedure and other articles, but Articles 84 to 88 on the end-of-service award were not amended.
The law defines wage as the actual wage, which includes fixed allowances such as housing, and Article 86 only lets the parties exclude commissions and variable pay. In practice many employers calculate on basic plus housing and transport. Check your contract.
Within one week of the contract ending if the employer ended it, and within two weeks if the employee ended it (Article 88).
Yes. Article 87 gives the full award to a female worker who ends her contract within six months of marriage or within three months of giving birth, and to any worker who leaves because of force majeure.