Two clocks start when a UAE employee dies. Article 15(1) of Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021 gives the employer 10 days. That clock covers wages and gratuity after employee death. The family’s clock often runs on succession papers, and those take longer. Most families notice the gap only after the employer is late.

Families who check the figure first can spot an underpayment before they sign. Families who accept HR’s number without checking rarely recover the difference later. One check changes which side of that line you land on.

The death gratuity calculator above gives you an independent figure before you sign anything. Enter the jurisdiction, the last basic salary and the dates. It applies the federal Article 51 formula, or the ADGM rules where those apply. Check the result against the employer’s number, then read what to do if the two do not match.

Written by: Noura Al-Qaseer, Senior HR Manager & UAE Labour Law Advisor (20+ years’ UAE private-sector HR experience)
Legally reviewed by: Adv. Marwan A. Hamid, UAE Labour Law Advocate
Last updated: October 2026. Next review: December 2026

How to use this UAE death gratuity calculator

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Choose the jurisdiction first, because it changes the formula, the deadline and what the tool can calculate at all. Then enter the wage and the dates. The tool returns an estimate you can hold against the employer’s figure. Follow these steps:

1. Choose the jurisdiction. Select the federal-law option for mainland employment, JAFZA and qualifying non-financial free zones. Select ADGM only for an ADGM-regulated employer. DIFC and domestic-worker employment are outside this calculator.
2. Enter the salary. For the federal-law option, enter the last basic salary and exclude allowances. For ADGM, enter the higher of the basic wage or 50% of total wage for the pay period.
3. Enter the dates. Add the joining date and date of death. The employer-awareness date affects the federal-law deadline only. The ADGM 21-day rule runs from the employee’s Termination Date under Section 14.
4. Enter leave and unpaid absence. The federal estimate deducts unpaid absence from service. For ADGM, unpaid absence is deducted as a conservative calculator assumption. The branch does not use the federal part-time percentage. If the worker was in a savings scheme, select Yes in that field. The tool then explains what is owed instead of showing a gratuity figure. If the worker was in a savings scheme, select Yes in that field. The tool then explains what is owed instead of showing a gratuity figure.
5. Select work-related death only where appropriate. The federal branch uses Article 37. That means 24 months of basic wage, with a floor of AED 18,000 and a ceiling of AED 200,000. ADGM shows “Court-determined” instead of a figure. The ADGM Court sets the final award, even though Section 48(3) sets a statutory minimum of 24 months of Wages.

TIP: The result gives you a figure to check HR’s number against. It does not calculate inheritance shares. For ADGM it also skips work-death damages, because the Court decides that amount.

What happens to gratuity after an employee dies in the UAE?

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A death gratuity payment is the end-of-service gratuity an employer pays to a deceased worker’s named beneficiary or legal heirs. The employer still owes gratuity, unpaid wages, unused leave, and repatriation costs after an employee dies. The worker must have had at least one year of service. Death ends the contract under Article 42, but it does not cancel benefits the worker already earned.

Article 15 covers wages, dues, and gratuity owed at death. But Article 51 decides if gratuity is owed at all.

A foreign full-time worker needs one year of continuous service. A worker who dies sooner leaves no Article 51 gratuity. But other unpaid job rights can still stand.

Entitlement	Legal basis	Key point
End-of-service gratuity	Article 51	One year of continuous service is generally needed for foreign full-time workers.
Outstanding wages	Article 15	Salary earned up to the date of death stays payable.
Unused annual leave	Article 29(9)	Unused leave is worked out separately from gratuity.
Work-related death pay	Article 37	Applies only to a qualifying work-related death, federal-law employees only.
Repatriation of the body	Article 15(3)	Preparation and transport costs specified by the law fall on the employer.
Contract or insurance benefits	Contract, policy or scheme terms	Life cover and employer schemes sit outside statutory gratuity.

Read our UAE Labour Law 2026 guide for the wider private-sector framework.

Does the employer have 10, 14 or 21 days to pay after a death?

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For an employee covered by the federal-law branch, the death-payment deadline is 10 days, not 14. This includes mainland employment and qualifying UAE-law free-zone employment such as JAFZA. ADGM applies a 21-day rule to amounts owed after termination, which this guide applies to death.

The federal 10-day period starts from the date of death, or from the date the employer became aware. That second trigger matters when a worker dies abroad. Article 53’s 14-day rule covers ordinary contract endings, not death. Applying it to a death case hands the employer four extra days it is not entitled to.

Situation	Deadline	Starts from
Federal-law employee death	10 days	Death date or employer awareness
ADGM employee death	21 calendar days	Termination Date under Section 14
Federal-law resignation or termination	14 days	End of employment

Write to HR the same day. Attach the death certificate if you have it, because that email helps document when the employer became aware.

WARNING: Several UAE gratuity pages still tell every family to wait 14 days regardless of jurisdiction. For federal-law death cases that is wrong, and it does not apply to ADGM at all.

Our gratuity application letter templates give you a structure for that first message.

How is gratuity after employee death calculated?

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Death gratuity under federal law uses the standard Article 51 formula. The last basic wage drives the figure, not the total package. The first five years earn 21 days of basic wage each, and later years earn 30 days each.

Part years count pro rata once one full year is done. Article 51(4) leaves unpaid absence days out of the service count.

Worked example: death gratuity for seven years of service

Take a logistics supervisor with seven years of service under the federal-law branch. The last basic salary was AED 9,000.

Step	Working	Amount
Daily basic wage	9,000 divided by 30	AED 300
First five years	21 days x 5 years = 105 days	AED 31,500
Years six and seven	30 days x 2 years = 60 days	AED 18,000
Estimated gratuity	165 gratuity days	AED 49,500
Unused leave, 18 days	18 x AED 300	AED 5,400
Gratuity plus leave pay	Before other lawful adjustments	AED 54,900

Calculate this through the tool above rather than by hand where possible, since it applies the two-year cap automatically.

IMPORTANT: If the employer enrolled the worker in the UAE Alternative End-of-Service Benefits Savings Scheme, Article 51 stops applying from the enrolment date. Gratuity earned before enrolment is still owed. Ask HR for the scheme balance and enrolment date. For the federal-law estimate, do not use gross salary. Gratuity is based on the last basic salary. ADGM is different, and the next section covers why.

How does an ADGM death settlement differ?

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ADGM employees are governed by the ADGM Employment Regulations 2024, not Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021. For gratuity, the calculator uses the higher of two figures. These are the stated basic wage and 50% of the total wage for the pay period.

The daily-rate and service rules differ from the federal branch. The ADGM branch deducts unpaid absence as a conservative assumption. It does not use the federal part-time percentage or legacy contract type. Section 61 does not expressly contain the same unpaid-absence exclusion used under federal Article 51(4). Our calculator methodology page explains the ADGM daily-rate, service-year and cap treatment in more detail.

ADGM does not set a fixed final compensation amount for the calculator to produce. Where a work-related accident or illness causes death, the estate may claim damages if it proves employer negligence. Under Section 48(3), the ADGM Court may then award at least 24 months of Wages. The ADGM Courts determine the amount case by case. Selecting a work-related death under ADGM therefore shows “Court-determined” rather than an AED figure.

Item	Federal-law branch	ADGM branch
Gratuity cap	Two years’ wage	No cap
Payment deadline	10 days from death or awareness	21 calendar days from the termination date
Work-death compensation	Article 37: 24 months’ basic wage, subject to AED 18,000 to 200,000	Section 48: court-determined, with a statutory minimum of 24 months’ Wages if the legal conditions are met

If the employee chose a pension or savings scheme under Section 61(5), no Section 61 gratuity is due unless the employer agreed otherwise. Choose ADGM only if the employment contract is with an ADGM entity. A dual-licensed company’s Abu Dhabi DED entity stays under federal labour law. This holds even where the group also holds an ADGM licence.

What the calculator’s combined estimate covers

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The combined estimate adds only the items this tool actually calculates: end-of-service gratuity, unused leave, and qualifying federal-law work-death compensation. It does not add unpaid salary. It also does not subtract lawful deductions, loans, advances, estate debts, insurance payments or other adjustments.

It is an employment-entitlement estimate, not necessarily the final amount the estate receives. For ADGM, any work-death damages are excluded entirely. The tool cannot calculate a figure that the law leaves to the courts.

Who receives gratuity after employee death, a beneficiary or the legal heirs?

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A written Article 15(2) beneficiary receives payment directly from the employer. Without one, the legal heirs receive it through the succession process. Ministerial Resolution No. 720 of 2023 deals with paying a person the worker named.

A written nomination decides who the employer pays. It does not decide who finally owns the money. That is a separate legal question, and it is where most guidance gets it wrong. Employer payment sits under labour law. Who finally owns the money sits under succession law.

If no written record exists, your employer will usually ask for proof of heirship. Which paper you need depends on the case.

For some non-Muslim estates, Federal Decree-Law No. 41 of 2022 may apply. Article 11 sets a civil default where its conditions are met. Half goes to the surviving spouse. The rest is split among the children, with no difference between sons and daughters.

That outcome is not universal, and a registered will or a choice of home country law can change it entirely.

The chart above and the steps that follow cover the same decision.

Decision tree: who should the employer pay?

1. Confirm the worker’s zone, because mainland, ADGM, DIFC and domestic worker rules differ.
2. Ask HR whether a written Article 15(2) beneficiary record exists.
3. If yes, provide the record and identity papers, then track the 10-day deadline.
4. If no, ask HR in writing which succession proof it requires.
5. If payment still cannot reach the correct recipient, ask about the Article 15(4) route.
6. Handle final estate distribution separately, under the applicable succession framework.

PRO TIP: Ask HR whether your employer records written Article 15(2) beneficiary instructions and how that record is kept.

What happens if the employer cannot pay the correct recipient?

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The employer cannot simply keep the money. Article 15(4) allows a Ministry mechanism where the entitlements cannot reach the family or rightful recipient. Ministerial Resolution No. 720 of 2023 sets out the current procedure in more detail.

Where the dues cannot be delivered within the required period, the employer must deposit them with the Ministry.

MOHRE can also suspend the establishment file where an employer fails to pay on time. The suspension can remain until the employer provides proof of payment.

This mechanism protects the employment money while the correct recipient is established. It does not decide final inheritance shares.

IMPORTANT: A slow succession process does not cancel the employer’s payment duty. Ask HR how it is handling the dues under Article 15.

What extra compensation applies after a work-related employee death?

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A qualifying work-related death creates separate compensation. Article 37 sets it at 24 months of basic wage. The floor is AED 18,000 and the ceiling is AED 200,000.

Those two figures are a floor and a ceiling, not two options to pick between.

The table below repeats these figures with the exact ceiling and floor applied.

Basic wage	24-month sum	Legal result
AED 2,000	AED 48,000	AED 48,000
AED 7,500	AED 180,000	AED 180,000
AED 9,000	AED 216,000	AED 200,000, ceiling applied
AED 15,000	AED 360,000	AED 200,000, ceiling applied

Not every death at work counts as a work-related death under the law. It must fit the work injury rules in Cabinet Resolution No. 33 of 2022.

Employer reporting duties also apply. Ministerial Resolution No. 657 of 2022 requires an employer to report a work injury or occupational disease within 48 hours. Keep police reports, medical records and site incident papers from day one. They can decide whether the pay applies.

Article 38 lists cases where work-injury compensation is not payable. These include deliberate self-injury, intoxication, intentional breaches of safety rules, wilful misconduct, and refusing examination or treatment without serious reason. Those exclusions cover work-injury pay only. They do not cancel gratuity the worker already earned.

You can read the full detail on the UAE Government work injury page.

WARNING: AED 200,000 is the legal maximum for the federal Article 37 calculation. So any source promising 24 months or AED 200,000, whichever is greater, is wrong. This federal ceiling does not apply to ADGM. Under Section 48(3), an ADGM Court may award no less than 24 months’ Wages where the legal conditions are met.

Can an employer deduct repatriation costs from death gratuity?

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No. Article 15(3) puts the set costs of preparing and moving the body on the employer. They cannot be charged against the family’s gratuity. This applies where the family asks to send the body home.

Sending the body home is the employer’s own duty under Article 15(3). It is not a service the family buys from its settlement. Treating it as a deduction turns an employer duty into a family cost. That is what the article stops.

But the duty has edges. It covers the worker’s body, not every cost the family faces. Flights for relatives are a separate question, and Article 15(3) does not cover them.

Cost	Who bears it	Basis
Preparing the body	Employer	Article 15(3)
Transporting the body home	Employer, on the family’s request	Article 15(3)
Relatives’ own travel to the UAE	Not covered by Article 15(3)	Contract or goodwill only

So if that cost appears on the settlement, ask HR for the legal basis in writing. Keep the invoice and the full settlement breakdown. Both matter if the figure is later disputed.

Our guide to gratuity deductions in the UAE covers related deduction rules.

What happens if the deceased employee had debts or loans?

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A personal debt does not become an employer gratuity deduction on its own. Debts touch the settlement in three separate places. Mixing them together is why families accept cuts they should have challenged.

Those three are the employer’s deduction, the estate’s debts, and the bank’s account rules. Each has a different decision-maker, so take them one at a time.

Employer deductions from the gratuity

Article 51 lets an employer deduct amounts due under law or a judgment, subject to the applicable rules. That is a narrow gate. A creditor request is not deduction authority, and a bank letter is not a court order.

Ask HR which permitted deduction category and supporting document it is relying on, in writing. Our guide to gratuity deductions in the UAE covers the lawful categories and the challenge route.

Debts owed by the estate

This is a different stage. Once job dues enter the estate, succession rules decide what heirs finally get.

Most systems settle funeral costs and debts before heirs get anything. So the amount paid out and the amount inherited can differ. Check the order with the court that handles the estate.

Access to the bank account

This third issue has nothing to do with the employer. Access after death depends on the bank, the account mandate, and any court order.

Check the account position with the bank before payment is arranged.

Issue	Question	Who decides	Position
Employer deduction from gratuity	Can HR subtract it?	Employer, then MOHRE or a court	A lawful basis under Article 51 is needed.
Estate debt	Can it cut the final inheritance?	Succession authority	Possibly, under the applicable succession process.
Bank account access	Can the family reach the money?	The bank, plus any court direction	Depends on the mandate and account type.

Which documents should a family prepare to claim the money?

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You need proof of death, ID records, job records, and often proof of heirship. Start early, because foreign papers take longest.

Document	Purpose
Death certificate	Proves the employee’s death and starts the process
Passport and Emirates ID copies	Confirms who the worker was and who is claiming
Written Article 15(2) beneficiary record	Supports the employer payment route
Employment contract	Confirms service dates, employer details and jurisdiction
Basic salary evidence	Supports the gratuity sum
Leave balance statement	Supports the unused leave payment
Marriage or birth certificates	Shows family relationship where heirship proof is needed
Inheritance certificate or probate order	Identifies lawful successors. A UAE court certificate is often called an I’lam Shar’i
Registered will	Can change the succession route entirely
Power of attorney	Lets one heir or a representative act for others
Attested or translated foreign papers	Supports overseas civil records before UAE authorities

Foreign papers may need attesting, legalising, or a certified translation. The route depends on the issuing country, the paper, and the authority receiving it.

TIP: Request several certified copies of the death certificate at the start. The employer, bank, court, and embassy will each want one.

Do mainland, ADGM, DIFC, JAFZA and domestic worker rules differ?

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Yes. Check jurisdiction first. It changes the payment rule, the formula, and whether this calculator can produce a figure at all.

Jurisdiction	Legal framework	Calculator treatment
Mainland, JAFZA and qualifying non-financial free zones	Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021	Federal-law calculation
ADGM	ADGM Employment Regulations 2024	Separate ADGM calculation
DIFC	DIFC Employment Law and qualifying schemes	Excluded from this calculator
Domestic workers	Federal Decree-Law No. 9 of 2022	Excluded from this calculator

DIFC needs particular care. Most eligible staff sit under a qualifying savings scheme such as DEWS rather than the mainland gratuity model. The family claims a scheme balance through the administrator, not a calculated gratuity.

Our JAFZA gratuity calculator guide covers that zone’s exit process. For household staff, our domestic worker gratuity calculator covers what happens when a worker dies during employment.

WARNING: Check the worker’s jurisdiction before quoting any deadline to HR. Quoting the wrong rule weakens your position.

What should the family do during the first 10 or 21 days?

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Write to HR, fix the payment route, and ask for a line-by-line settlement. Early written records stop most disputes before they start.

The chart above shows both sides of the clock. The steps below cover the family’s side in full.

1. Write to the employer. State the worker’s name, employee number, date of death, and your relationship.
2. Confirm the jurisdiction. Ask HR to state in writing whether the employment was federal-law or ADGM.
3. Ask whether a written Article 15(2) beneficiary record exists. This affects the employer’s payment route, but succession or identity documents may still be required.
4. Ask for a line-by-line sum. Ask HR to split gratuity, unpaid salary, unused leave, and other pay.
5. Check the service length and the last wage used. Check the one-year mark. Make sure HR left allowances out for federal-law employees.
6. Confirm the deadline in writing. Refer HR to Article 15(1), or the ADGM 21-day rule.
7. Check whether the death was work related. Keep medical, police, and site records.
8. Request repatriation where needed, citing Article 15(3) for federal-law employment.
9. Start succession papers early if no beneficiary record exists.
10. Escalate if the employer misses the deadline: 10 days for federal law, or 21 calendar days for ADGM.

What can heirs do if the employer delays or underpays?

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Heirs and named beneficiaries can raise a federal-law private-sector employment dispute with MOHRE. ADGM, DIFC and domestic-worker disputes follow separate routes. Keep proof of your notice, the employer’s sum, and any payment promise.

You have two years to bring a federal-law claim. The limit sits in Article 54(9) of Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021. Federal Decree-Law No. 9 of 2024 amended it. It runs from the date the employment relationship ends.

Act well before that limit, because employer records and payroll data fade fast.

Our UAE Labour Law guide covers the full complaint process and where to escalate.

A labour claim does not replace succession proceedings. The labour process settles what the job owed. The succession process settles who finally owns it.

File a mainland complaint through MOHRE.

NOTE: ADGM claims go through the ADGM Courts, not MOHRE. Check jurisdiction before filing anywhere.

What is the safest next step for a family claiming gratuity after employee death?

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Check four things before you accept any figure. Confirm the jurisdiction first, federal-law or ADGM. Then check the service length, the last wage figure, and whether a written beneficiary record exists.

Then check the sum yourself rather than trusting HR’s first figure. Keep work-death pay, employer deductions, estate debts, and inheritance as four separate questions.

That separation is what makes an error visible, and a visible error is one you can challenge.