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How do basic salary, housing and transport add up — and what does gratuity get worked out on?
Monthly package = basic salary + housing + transport + other fixed allowances. Annual package = 12 × the monthly package + annual items (air ticket allowance, guaranteed bonus). Each part is shown as a share of monthly pay. The gratuity section uses our labour-law library to show the monthly wage the gratuity formula uses in your country and the full end-of-service amount after one and five years — so you can see what the split costs before you write the offer.
How the split changes the gratuity basis and the end-of-service amount after five years (employer ends the contract).
| Country | Split | Gratuity basis | After 5 years |
|---|---|---|---|
| UAE | 9,000 basic + 5,000 allowances | AED 9,000 | AED 31,500 |
| UAE | 7,000 basic + 7,000 allowances | AED 7,000 | AED 24,500 |
| Saudi Arabia | 9,000 basic + 5,000 allowances | SAR 14,000 | SAR 35,000 |
| Saudi Arabia | 7,000 basic + 7,000 allowances | SAR 14,000 | SAR 35,000 |
In the UAE a lower basic lowers gratuity; in Saudi Arabia the total wage counts, so the split makes no difference.
Copy the split into the offer letter generator, or compare it with a competing offer in the job offer comparison.
There is no single legal split — it's your pay policy. What the law fixes is what each part drives: in the UAE, Qatar and Oman end-of-service gratuity is based on basic salary, so a lower basic lowers that liability; in Saudi Arabia gratuity uses basic plus fixed allowances. Candidates know this and compare basic, so a very low basic can cost you offers. Decide the split once, by grade, and apply it consistently.
In the UAE, no — gratuity is worked out on the last basic salary only (Federal Decree-Law 33/2021, Art 51). In Saudi Arabia, yes — gratuity uses the 'actual wage', which includes fixed allowances such as housing and transport. Qatar and Oman use basic salary.
Yes. The total monthly salary is what goes through WPS (Mudad in Saudi Arabia) and what banks and visa authorities usually look at, for example when an employee sponsors family. Keep the offer letter, contract and payroll figures identical.
Enter them under annual items. They are added to the annual package once a year and are not part of the monthly salary or the gratuity basis, unless your contract pays them monthly as a fixed allowance.
We only show legal figures we have verified against the law. Kuwait's end-of-service rules and Bahrain's move of expat end-of-service into the SIO fund are still being reviewed, so the calculator shows the package total but no gratuity for those two countries.
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Open toolYour policy decides the split — gratuity and leave pay usually follow basic.
Phone, education, cost-of-living, etc.
Annual items
Salary package
64% of monthly pay
29% of monthly pay
7% of monthly pay
AED 168,000 a year
Checked against GCC labour-law rules · reviewed 23 Sept 2026Sources: u.ae — End-of-service benefits (private sector) · DIFC — Qualifying schemes (DEWS)
Email yourself this package split to paste into the offer letter.