Does my gratuity reset if I change employers within the UAE?

Yes — for gratuity purposes, your service is generally tied to a single employer, so moving to a new UAE company starts a fresh service period. Under the UAE Labour Law (Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021), administered by MOHRE, your end-of-service gratuity is calculated based on continuous service with the same employer; when you resign and join a different company, your previous employer settles the gratuity earned during your time with them, and your tenure with the new employer begins from zero. That means each job builds its own gratuity, and the one-year minimum eligibility applies separately to each. There are limited situations — such as a genuine transfer of the business or undertaking to a new owner where employment continues — in which service may be preserved rather than reset; whether that applies depends on the specific arrangement. When you leave the first employer, make sure they pay the gratuity you accrued there as part of your final settlement. If a former employer fails to pay out your earned gratuity on departure, you can raise it with MOHRE or compare verified UAE employment lawyers on LEXAI.