Methodology & sources

This page lists every rule GulfCalc uses, where it comes from and whether it has been verified. Last reviewed: 2 November 2026.

Status at a glance

VAT: standard rates 15% (Saudi Arabia) and 5% (UAE) as published by ZATCA and the FTA. The arithmetic is covered by automated tests.
Hijri dates: Umm al-Qura engine, cross-checked with two independent converters and with Saudi Arabia's announced 1 Ramadan 1446.
Saudi end of service: 5 of 7 rules checked against the Labor Law text published by HRSD (November 2025 edition). The official HRSD calculator was unavailable when checked.
UAE gratuity: 5 of 8 rules checked against Article 51 as published on the u.ae government portal, a copy that may not include the 2023 and 2024 amendments. The formula matches the official DDA calculator except for the last working day, rounding and the 2-year cap.

Country settings

	Saudi Arabia	UAE
VAT standard rate	15%	5%
Currency	SAR (halalas)	AED (fils)
VAT authority	ZATCA	Federal Tax Authority (FTA)
Rate in force since	1 July 2020 (5% from 2018)	1 January 2018
Gratuity law	Saudi Labor Law, Arts. 84, 85, 87	Federal Decree-Law 33/2021, Art. 51
Gratuity wage	Basic + regular allowances	Basic salary only
Gratuity rate	½ month per year (years 1–5), 1 month after	21 days per year (years 1–5), 30 days after
Resignation	None < 2 yrs, ⅓, ⅔, full from 10 yrs	No reduction
Minimum service	None (2 yrs for resignation)	1 full year
Cap	None	2 years' basic wage
Service count	Days ÷ 365	Years + months ÷ 12 + days ÷ 365

VAT

Standard rates: Saudi Arabia 15% (ZATCA, since 1 July 2020); UAE 5% (Federal Tax Authority, since 1 January 2018). Verify current rates with the authorities before relying on them.
Add VAT: VAT = net × rate; gross = net + VAT. Remove VAT: VAT = gross × rate ÷ (1 + rate); net = gross − VAT.
Arithmetic uses whole halalas/fils (no floating point). VAT is rounded half up to 2 decimals and the other figure is derived, so net + VAT = gross exactly.

Hijri ↔ Gregorian

Engine: the islamic-umalqura calendar built into the browser (ICU). The same engine runs on the server and in the browser.
Supported range: 1365–1500 AH (1945–2077 CE). Dates outside the range are rejected; no approximate calendar is used. Dates use a bundled Umm al-Qura table, so results do not depend on your browser. From 1420 AH the table matches a second independent source exactly; before 1392 AH published tables can differ by a day.
All conversions use whole days in UTC, so the user's time zone cannot shift a date. “Today” uses the current date in Asia/Riyadh.

End of service – Saudi Arabia 5/7 · Checked against law text

Award rate

Checked against law text

Half a month's wage for each of the first five years, one month's wage for each year after that.

Source: Saudi Labor Law (Royal Decree M/51, as amended to M/44 of 1446H), HRSD edition
Reference: Article 84
Effective date: In force since 2006; text read in the HRSD edition of November 2025

Partial years

Open

Parts of a year count proportionally to the time worked.

Source: Saudi Labor Law (Royal Decree M/51, as amended to M/44 of 1446H), HRSD edition
Reference: Article 84
Effective date: In force since 2006; text read in the HRSD edition of November 2025

Open question: Article 84 makes part-years proportional but gives no day-count method. This tool uses service days ÷ 365. HRSD calculator pages returned 'not found' on 1 Nov 2026, so no official calculator confirms it.

Wage base

Checked against law text

The award uses the last wage, and Article 2 defines wage as the actual wage: basic wage plus other amounts due for the work, such as allowances. Article 86 allows an agreement to leave commissions out.

Source: Saudi Labor Law (Royal Decree M/51, as amended to M/44 of 1446H), HRSD edition
Reference: Articles 2, 84, 86
Effective date: In force since 2006; text read in the HRSD edition of November 2025

Resignation

Checked against law text

Resignation: under 2 years no award; 2 to 5 years one third; over 5 and under 10 years two thirds; 10 years or more the full award. Service is counted in calendar years, months and days.

Source: Saudi Labor Law (Royal Decree M/51, as amended to M/44 of 1446H), HRSD edition
Reference: Article 85
Effective date: In force since 2006; text read in the HRSD edition of November 2025

Open question: Article 2 now defines resignation in terms of a fixed-term contract. Confirm how Article 85 applies to each contract type.

Full award cases

Checked against law text

Termination by the employer, contract expiry and Article 87 cases receive the full award. Article 87 covers leaving through force majeure, and a female worker ending the contract within 6 months of her marriage contract or 3 months of giving birth.

Source: Saudi Labor Law (Royal Decree M/51, as amended to M/44 of 1446H), HRSD edition
Reference: Articles 80, 84, 87
Effective date: In force since 2006; text read in the HRSD edition of November 2025

Open question: Not modelled: dismissal for an Article 80 cause (such as assault or forgery) carries no award, so this result would not apply.

Unpaid leave

Open

Unpaid leave days are excluded from the service period.

Source: Saudi Labor Law (Royal Decree M/51, as amended to M/44 of 1446H), HRSD edition
Reference: Article 2 (continuous service)
Effective date: In force since 2006; text read in the HRSD edition of November 2025

Open question: Article 2 treats unpaid absence of up to 20 separate days in a work year as continuous service, while this tool removes every unpaid day you enter. Confirm how each kind of leave affects the award.

Minimum service

Checked against law text

No minimum service is applied for termination or contract end; the 2-year minimum applies to resignation only.

Source: Saudi Labor Law (Royal Decree M/51, as amended to M/44 of 1446H), HRSD edition
Reference: Articles 84–85
Effective date: In force since 2006; text read in the HRSD edition of November 2025

End of service – UAE 5/8 · Checked against law text

The UAE service-length method and daily-wage divisor follow the Dubai Development Authority's official calculator, whose logic we read on 1 November 2026. DDA covers its own free zone, so this supports but does not prove the mainland rule.

Minimum service

Checked against law text

No gratuity for less than one full year of continuous service. This formula covers full-time foreign workers; UAE nationals follow the pension and social security law (Article 51(1)).

Source: Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021 (UAE Labour Law)
Reference: Article 51
Effective date: 2 February 2022 (Article 74)

Award rate

Checked against law text

21 days' basic wage for each of the first five years; 30 days' basic wage for each year after.

Source: Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021 (UAE Labour Law)
Reference: Article 51
Effective date: 2 February 2022 (Article 74)

Wage base

Checked against law text

Calculated on the last basic wage only (allowances excluded).

Source: Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021 (UAE Labour Law)
Reference: Article 51
Effective date: 2 February 2022 (Article 74)

Daily wage

Open

Daily wage = monthly basic wage ÷ 30 (the DDA calculator uses the same divisor).

Source: Dubai Development Authority gratuity calculator (supporting, not legal)
Reference: Calculator logic, read 1 Nov 2026
Effective date: 2 February 2022 (Article 74)

Open question: Confirm the official divisor in MOHRE guidance or the Executive Regulations.

Partial years

Open

Service = calendar years + months ÷ 12 + days ÷ 365, from the first to the last working day, after removing unpaid leave (the method used by the DDA calculator).

Source: Dubai Development Authority gratuity calculator (supporting, not legal)
Reference: Calculator logic, read 1 Nov 2026
Effective date: 2 February 2022 (Article 74)

Open question: DDA treats the last day as excluded; this tool includes it. Confirm the official convention.

Cap

Open

Total gratuity cannot exceed two years' wage. This tool applies the cap to basic wage.

Source: Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021 (UAE Labour Law)
Reference: Article 51
Effective date: 2 February 2022 (Article 74)

Open question: Article 51(6) says 'two years' wage', and Article 1 defines wage and basic wage separately, so the cap could be higher than shown. The DDA calculator applies no cap.

Resignation

Checked against law text

No reduction for resignation under the 2021 law. The DDA calculator still contains the old reductions, but they are switched off.

Source: Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021 (UAE Labour Law)
Reference: Article 51
Effective date: 2 February 2022 (Article 74)

Unpaid leave

Checked against law text

Unpaid leave days are excluded from service.

Source: Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021 (UAE Labour Law)
Reference: Article 51
Effective date: 2 February 2022 (Article 74)