Most UAE free zones follow the same gratuity rules as the mainland. The two financial free zones don't. The DIFC replaced the lump sum with a monthly savings plan in 2020, and ADGM rewrote its rules in April 2025. Here's which rules apply to you and how each one works.
Your visa sponsor and the licence of the company that employs you decide which law applies, not where your office happens to be. If your employer holds a DIFC or ADGM licence, that zone's own employment law applies. Almost everywhere else in the UAE, including most free zones, the federal law applies.
| Where your employer is licensed | Law | How the benefit works |
|---|---|---|
| DIFC (Dubai International Financial Centre) | DIFC Employment Law No. 2 of 2019 | Monthly employer contributions into DEWS or another approved savings scheme since 1 February 2020 |
| ADGM (Abu Dhabi Global Market) | ADGM Employment Regulations 2024, in force from 1 April 2025 | Lump sum gratuity on 21 and 30 days of basic wage, unless you chose a pension or savings scheme instead |
| Mainland and most other free zones | Federal Decree Law No. 33 of 2021 | Lump sum gratuity on 21 and 30 days of basic wage, or the federal alternative savings scheme if your employer joined it |
Since 1 February 2020, DIFC employers no longer build up a gratuity to pay when you leave. Instead they pay a monthly contribution into a qualifying savings scheme for each eligible employee. The default scheme is DEWS, the DIFC Employee Workplace Savings plan. An employer can use a different scheme only if the DIFC Authority has certified it.
The minimum employer contribution is 5.83% of your monthly basic wage while you have less than five years of service, rising to 8.33% from five years. Those percentages aren't arbitrary. 5.83% is 21 days out of a 360 day year and 8.33% is 30 days, so the contributions mirror the old 21 and 30 day gratuity formula. You can add your own voluntary contributions through payroll.
The difference from a traditional gratuity is that the money is invested as you go. Your final balance depends on the funds you or the default option picked, so it can end up above or below the contributions paid in. When you leave a DIFC employer, you can withdraw your balance or leave it invested and withdraw later. The DEWS member portal shows every contribution, so check it a few times a year rather than discovering a gap on your last day.
DEWS isn't retrospective. If you worked for the same DIFC employer before 1 February 2020, the gratuity you had built up until then is kept. It's worked out on the old DIFC basis of 21 days of basic wage for each of the first five years and 30 days for each year after. Employers were allowed to pay that legacy amount into DEWS early, but most still owe it as a lump sum when you leave.
So a long serving DIFC employee usually receives two things: the legacy gratuity for service up to January 2020 from the employer, and the DEWS balance for everything since. Ask HR for the legacy figure in writing and check which basic wage it uses.
The ADGM Employment Regulations 2024 replaced the 2019 Regulations on 1 April 2025. ADGM kept a lump sum gratuity but changed several rules around it:
ADGM employers may also offer a pension or savings scheme instead of gratuity. You have to agree to it in writing, and once you join you aren't entitled to the gratuity for that service unless your employer agrees otherwise. If you signed something like this when you joined, find a copy before relying on any calculator figure.
Free zones such as JAFZA, DMCC, DAFZA and RAKEZ don't have a separate gratuity system. Employment there follows Federal Decree Law No. 33 of 2021, in some zones through the zone's own regulations, which track the federal rules. That means everything in our UAE gratuity guide applies: one year minimum service, 21 days of basic wage for each of the first five years and 30 days after, a cap of two years' wage, and payment within 14 days.
Employers in these zones can also join the federal alternative end of service scheme under Cabinet Resolution No. 96 of 2023. The employer pays 5.83% or 8.33% of basic salary each month into an approved fund, the same rates as DEWS. Gratuity built up before your employer enrolled you stays guaranteed, worked out on your basic salary at the enrolment date. When you leave, the fund balance is paid within 14 days or can stay invested. The scheme doesn't apply in the DIFC or ADGM.
Where you complain about unpaid gratuity also varies. Some free zone authorities handle employee complaints before a case goes to court, so check your zone's process. Our claims guide covers the mainland route through MOHRE.
In all three systems, UAE and other GCC nationals registered with the pension authority build a pension instead of a gratuity or DEWS balance. ADGM lets a GCC national take gratuity only with written approval from the pension authority not to participate. Our nationals versus expatriates guide explains the pension side.
Checked against the published labour law text for each country. Where the law is unclear or interpretations differ, we say so. Last verified 15 October 2026.