UAE Annual Leave Entitlements 2026: Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021

• Between 6 and 12 months of service: 2 days of leave for each completed month worked. An employee at month 9, for example, has 18 days accrued.
• 12 months or more of service: the full 30-day entitlement applies for that year and every year after. The sliding scale matters for newer hires and for anyone who joined an employer mid-year. It also matters for terminations during the first year — the employer must still pay leave salary for the months worked beyond the six-month mark, even if the contract is ending. ## Annual leave for part-time and flexible workers Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021 introduced several non-traditional work models — part-time, temporary, flexible, and freelance arrangements under MOHRE permits. Annual leave for these workers is pro-rated against the hours actually worked compared to a full-time schedule. A part-time employee working 20 hours a week against a 40-hour full-time baseline accrues annual leave at half the full-time rate. The pro-rata calculation must be set out in the employment contract; if it is missing, employees can request MOHRE to determine the correct figure. ## Leave salary: what gets paid, what does not Leave salary is the wage an employee earns while on annual leave. It is also the cash sum paid out for any unused leave at the end of employment. The calculation rests on the basic wage — the figure in the employment contract labelled as basic salary, not the gross monthly figure that includes allowances. This is the most common source of dispute in UAE leave-pay claims. Workers see a gross salary of AED 12,000 on their offer letter — AED 6,000 basic, AED 3,000 housing, AED 2,000 transport, AED 1,000 utilities — and assume the leave-salary calculation uses the gross. The statute uses the basic figure unless the contract explicitly broadens it. Reading the contract carefully before signing is the single most effective protection a worker has. Allowances may be included in leave salary in three situations: 1. The contract itself states that allowances are included in the leave-pay calculation.

1. The allowances are clearly part of the regular monthly wage and not tied to a specific business expense (such as a one-off relocation allowance).
2. The employer has a written policy or established practice of paying full salary during leave, which can become a contractual entitlement by custom. ## When unused leave converts to cash Annual leave is designed to be taken as time off. Article 29 limits cash conversion during active employment — an employee cannot demand cash in place of leave, and an employer cannot impose cash in place of leave, except in narrow written agreements. The exception is end of service. When the contract ends — by resignation, mutual agreement, termination for cause, or non-renewal — every day of accrued but unused leave converts to a cash payment. This cash payment forms part of the final settlement alongside any unpaid wages, end-of-service gratuity under Article 51, and notice-period pay where applicable. The law gives the employer 14 days from the date of contract termination to pay the final settlement in full. Late payment is a wage-protection violation reportable to MOHRE, with administrative penalties available even before any court claim. ## Carrying leave from year to year UAE labour law expects annual leave to be used within the year it accrues. Carry-over to the next year is allowed only by written agreement between the employer and the employee, and even then the employer can require leave to be taken within a reasonable period rather than allowed to accumulate indefinitely. Employees who never take leave because their workload makes it impractical are still entitled to be paid for that unused leave at termination — the obligation does not disappear because the time was not booked. ## Sick leave is separate, parental leave is separate, study leave is separate A frequent misunderstanding is that sick leave, parental leave, and study leave eat into the 30-day annual entitlement. They do not. Each is a distinct entitlement under separate articles of Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021: - Sick leave (Article 31): up to 90 days per year after probation — 15 days full pay, 30 days half pay, 45 days unpaid. Requires a recognised medical certificate.

• [Maternity leave](/dictionary/maternity-leave) (Article 30): 60 days for the mother — 45 fully paid, 15 at half pay — with additional unpaid leave available for medical reasons.
• Parental leave (Article 32): 5 working days for either parent within six months of the child's birth.
• Compassionate leave (Article 32): 5 days for the death of a spouse, 3 days for the death of a parent, child, sibling, grandchild, or grandparent.
• Study leave (Article 32): 10 working days a year for employees enrolled in a UAE-accredited educational institution, available after two years of service.
• Sabbatical leave (Article 32): paid sabbatical for UAE-citizen employees performing national service. None of these reduce the 30 days under Article 29. An employee can finish a year with 30 days of annual leave still on the books even after taking sick leave, parental leave, and a death-in-the-family bereavement during the same period. ## Common employer mistakes MOHRE and the labour courts see the same patterns of error year after year. The most frequent: Calculating leave salary on basic wage when the contract specifies gross. Some contracts — particularly senior or expatriate packages — write the leave-salary basis as the gross wage including allowances. Employers who default to basic wage in those cases underpay. Refusing accrued leave at termination. The right to be paid for unused leave is statutory. It does not depend on whether the employer agrees, whether the resignation was sudden, or whether the employee is leaving for a competitor. Forcing the employee to "use up" leave during the [notice period](/tools/notice-pay-calculator). Notice periods exist to wind down work, hand over duties, and let both sides plan the transition. Forcing the entire notice period to be consumed as annual leave is permissible only with the employee's written consent. Pro-rating less than the law allows for partial years. The 2-days-per-month rule for the 6-to-12-month window is a floor, not a ceiling. Some employers calculate pro-rata on the 30-day baseline (2.5 days per month) and end up under the statutory minimum for short-service employees. Paying leave salary at the end of the leave instead of at the start. Article 29 requires the leave salary to be paid before the leave begins, not on the next regular payroll cycle. Employees waiting until after the leave to be paid have a wage-protection complaint available. Treating public holidays as annual leave. Public holidays declared by Cabinet decision are statutory paid days off in their own right. If an employer counts those days against the 30-day entitlement, the employee is being underpaid leave. ## What to do if your annual leave is being denied or underpaid UAE law gives workers a low-friction path to challenge leave disputes: 1. Raise it in writing with the employer first. Email or a printed letter, copy yourself. Most disputes resolve here once the law is cited.

1. File a complaint with MOHRE. The Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation accepts complaints free of charge through its app, website, or service centres. MOHRE will summon both sides for mediation before any case escalates.
2. If mediation fails, MOHRE refers the matter to the [labour court](/dictionary/labour-court). Court filing fees are waived for wage and leave-salary claims up to a defined ceiling, removing one of the cost barriers for workers.
3. Engage a UAE employment lawyer. For complex calculations — long-service employees, mixed bonus-and-base wage structures, expat senior packages — a specialist lawyer can size the claim accurately before mediation and represent you if it reaches court. The 14-day final-settlement window under Article 53 is your enforcement lever for leave salary at end of service. If the period passes without payment, the wage-protection regime applies even without a formal court case. ## How LEXAI helps ## Annual Leave Lawyers in UAE LEXAI is a free-first directory of bar-licensed UAE employment lawyers. Every lawyer is verified before their profile goes live — bar licence, identity, and practice areas are checked by the LEXAI verification team. There is no fee to contact a lawyer through their profile, and there is no platform between you and them once you do. You pay the lawyer directly at the rate they publish on their profile. If you are dealing with a disputed annual leave calculation, a refused leave request, or a final settlement that has not been paid within 14 days, contact a UAE employment lawyer directly through their LEXAI profile. The directory lists lawyers by specialty, language, and emirate so you can pick the right fit for your situation. LEXAI's free AI legal assistant also answers general questions about UAE annual-leave law in English and Arabic, available without an account at any time. The AI is information-only — when the question turns specific (your contract, your wage slip, your termination letter), the assistant points you back to a verified lawyer. ## Related reading - UAE labour termination: notice periods, just cause, and your rights (2026)

• UAE end of service gratuity calculation under Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021
• Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021 — full text on /legislations/uae-1541

Direct answer. Full-time employees in the UAE earn 30 calendar days of paid annual leave after one full year of service, governed by Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021 (Article 29). During months 6 to 12 the entitlement is 2 days per month, pro-rated. Unused leave is encashable on end-of-service. This article covers the calculation rules, employer obligations, the difference between annual and sick leave, and what to do when leave is unreasonably refused.

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