How Unpaid Leave, Maternity Leave & Probation Period Affect Your UAE Gratuity Service Days

Yes, 100%! Under Article 9(6) of Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021, if an employee successfully completes their probation period (which cannot exceed 6 months) and continues in service, the probation period is calculated as part of their overall period of service from the original joining date (Start Date). Never let an employer calculate your gratuity starting from your "confirmation date" 6 months after you joined! Always enter your Day-1 joining date as the Start Date in our UAE Gratuity Calculator.

Article 51(4) of the UAE Labour Law states explicitly: "The days of absence from work without pay shall not be included in the calculation of the period of service."

For example, if you worked from January 1, 2023 to January 1, 2026 (1,096 calendar days) on a Basic Salary of AED 15,000, and during those 3 years you took 30 days of approved Unpaid Leave (under Article 33), the employer subtracts 30 days from 1,096 days—calculating your gratuity on 1,066 net service days (which reduces your gratuity by only ~AED 863, not an entire year).

Be extremely careful if you plan to resign right after your 1st anniversary: suppose you joined on November 1, 2025 and plan for your last working day to be November 5, 2026 (370 calendar days). If you took 10 days of Unpaid Leave during that first year, subtracting those 10 unpaid days leaves you with 360 net service days—which is 5 days short of the mandatory 365-day minimum under Article 51(2), resulting in 0 AED gratuity! Always make sure your net paid service days (after subtracting any unpaid leave) exceed 365 days.

• Maternity Leave (Article 30): Female employees are entitled to 60 days of paid maternity leave (45 days at 100% Full Wage + 15 days at 50% Wage). Article 30(8) explicitly states that maternity leave is included in your continuous service for gratuity! However, if a new mother takes the optional extra 45 days of unpaid maternity absence under Article 30(2), those unpaid days are excluded.
• Sick Leave (Article 31): Up to 90 days/year after probation (first 15 days at 100% pay, next 30 days at 50% pay, final 45 days at 0% pay). Paid sick leave days count toward gratuity; only the final 45 unpaid sick days are excluded.

To get an exact calculation on our UAE Gratuity Calculator when you have taken Unpaid Leave, simply move your Start Date forward (or your End Date backward) by the exact number of unpaid leave days you took.