UAE annual leave calculator: How many days has
this employee earned?
Annual leave accrues differently in the first year. Enter months of service and see the balance, with the rule that produced it.
Leave balance
United Arab Emirates33.0 days
remaining, from 45.0 accrued
One year or more, accruing the full 30-day entitlement each year.
How this was worked out
- Service
- 1.50 years
- 1.50 × 30 days
- 45.0 days
- Days already taken
- 12.0 days
In DenwaysHR every employee sees this themselves, updated the moment a request is approved.
See leave managementIndicative only. This calculator applies UAE Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021 to the figures you enter. Contracts, unpaid leave, outstanding dues and free-zone rules can all change the result. Confirm the final amount with your legal adviser before paying or accepting it.
How annual leave accrues in the UAE
Annual leave in the UAE is set by Article 29 of Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021. What an employee has earned depends on how long they have served, and it does not build up evenly from day one.
The rules the calculator applies
- 30 calendar days of annual leave for each year of service, once one complete year has been served
- Two days a month for an employee who has served more than six months but less than a year
- No statutory annual leave accrual in the first six months
- An employer may grant more than the minimum, so the annual entitlement is something you can change
A worked example
Two and a half years of service, a 30-day entitlement, 50 days already taken.
- Service (30 months ÷ 12)
- 2.5 years
- Accrued (2.5 × 30 days)
- 75 days
- Days already taken
- 50 days
- Leave remaining
- 25 days
An employee at nine months has not earned a slice of thirty days. They have earned 9 × 2 = 18 days.
How many days of annual leave does an employee get in the UAE?
Thirty calendar days for each year of service, once a full year has been completed. Between six months and a year, leave accrues at two days a month.
Does an employee earn leave in the first six months?
There is no statutory accrual in the first six months. Many employers allow leave earlier as a matter of policy, in which case the contract or the policy governs.
Is annual leave counted in working days or calendar days?
The statutory entitlement is expressed in calendar days: 30 calendar days a year.
Our company gives more than 30 days. Can the calculator handle that?
Yes. The annual entitlement is an input: set it to whatever your contracts provide and it is used from the first full year of service onward. Between six months and a year the calculator keeps to the law's two days a month, whatever that figure is.
Guides
Bring your whole workforce onto one platform.
See how DenwaysHR handles HR, attendance and leave across the GCC, and payroll with the WPS file in the UAE.
