DIFC DEWS: end of service without a final calculation
In the Dubai International Financial Centre, end-of-service pay is no longer worked out on the way out. Since February 2020 it has been paid in month by month. That changes what you should check — and when.
The DIFC is outside the federal labour law
Employers licensed in the DIFC are governed by the DIFC's own Employment Law — DIFC Law No. 2 of 2019, as amended — not by Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021. That is why the Article 51 calculation used everywhere else on this site does not describe a DIFC employee's end-of-service position. If your employer is licensed in the DIFC, read this page instead of the calculator.
How it works since 1 February 2020
From the Qualifying Scheme Commencement Date, 1 February 2020, a DIFC employer must pay monthly contributions for each employee who is not exempt into a qualifying scheme. The default scheme is DEWS, the DIFC Employee Workplace Savings plan, a funded defined-contribution plan. Employers may use another approved qualifying scheme instead.
Article 66(7) of the DIFC Employment Law sets the minimum contributions:
| Length of service | Contribution | Equivalent to |
|---|---|---|
| First five years | 5.83% | 21 days' basic wage a year (21 ÷ 360) |
| Each year after five | 8.33% | 30 days' basic wage a year (30 ÷ 360) |
The rates were set to mirror the old gratuity accrual. The five years include any employment or secondment served before February 2020, so someone who joined in 2017 moved to the 8.33% rate in 2022, not 2025.
What changes for you
- Current salary, not final salary. Each month's contribution is a percentage of that month's basic wage. A promotion in your last year raises only the contributions from that point; it does not lift the whole career the way the final basic does under the federal law. The reverse is also true: a basic cut late in your career does not reduce what has already been paid in.
- The money is in a fund. The balance belongs to the scheme on your behalf rather than sitting as a liability on the employer's books, which protects it if the employer fails. It also means the value moves with the investments you or the default option hold.
- The plan rules decide what is yours. Contributions are paid monthly from enrolment, and what you can take when you leave is governed by the scheme’s rules rather than by a one-year threshold in an exit formula. Check your account and the plan rules rather than assuming the first year is lost — or assuming it is safe.
- Voluntary saving. DEWS allows members to add their own contributions on top of the employer's.
An employee joins a DIFC firm on 1 March 2021 on a monthly basic of 15,000 AED and leaves on 1 March 2026, five years later. The employer contributes 5.83% × 15,000 = 874.50 AED a month, or 52,470 AED over 60 months. Under the federal formula the same five years would have produced 105 days × 500 = 52,500 AED. The difference is the rounding in 5.83%; the real difference is whatever the fund has earned or lost in between.
Service before February 2020
Article 66(1) and (2) preserve a gratuity for the period before the Qualifying Scheme Commencement Date. An employee who completes at least one year of continuous employment — before or after that date — is entitled, on termination, to:
- 21 days' basic wage for each of the first five years of service before 1 February 2020, and
- 30 days' basic wage for each additional year of service before that date.
The DIFC law also allows the employer to transfer the value of that accrued gratuity into a qualifying scheme. If it has not been transferred, it is paid at the end of the employment, within the deadline below.
How a "day's" basic wage is worked out has not always been applied the same way in DIFC cases. One 2020 Small Claims Tribunal decision used an annual wage divided by 260; later decisions, applying the law as amended in 2021, used a 365-day year. The difference between the two is large. If you have pre-2020 service, check the definition in the current text of the DIFC Employment Law, which is published in the DIFC legal database, rather than relying on any calculator — including the one on this site, which uses the federal 30-day month.
Who is excluded
UAE and GCC nationals who must be registered with the General Pension and Social Security Authority under the DIFC law are covered by the pension system instead. They are not entitled to the pre-2020 gratuity and contributions are not paid for them into DEWS. See UAE and GCC nationals.
Getting paid at the end
The DIFC Employment Law requires the employer to pay an employee's outstanding entitlements within 14 days of the termination date — including any pre-2020 gratuity that was not transferred into a qualifying scheme. Where payment is late, the DIFC law provides for a penalty, measured by the employee's daily wage for each day the amount remains unpaid, which the DIFC Courts have power to reduce or waive in some circumstances. The DEWS balance itself is held by the plan; how and when you can take it is set by the plan's rules.
DIFC employment disputes go to the DIFC Courts, where smaller claims are heard by the Small Claims Tribunal. The DIFC law sets a short time limit for bringing employment claims, measured in months from the end of employment rather than years. Do not wait on a disputed DIFC settlement.
What to check if you work in the DIFC
- That you are enrolled, and from when. Your DEWS account will show every contribution.
- That contributions are on the right basic wage, and at 8.33% once your total service, including any pre-2020 years, passes five years.
- What happened to your pre-2020 gratuity: transferred into the scheme, or still owed by the employer at the end. Ask for it in writing.
- Whether your employer uses DEWS or another qualifying scheme, and where to find its rules.
Questions
Do DIFC employees still get end-of-service gratuity?
For service from 1 February 2020, no lump-sum gratuity is calculated at the end. The employer pays monthly contributions into DEWS or another qualifying scheme instead. Gratuity for service before that date is preserved, unless it has been transferred into the scheme.
What are the DEWS contribution rates?
At least 5.83% of monthly basic wage for the first five years of service, including service before February 2020, and 8.33% for each year after that, under Article 66(7) of the DIFC Employment Law.
Is DEWS the same as the federal savings scheme?
No. The federal alternative end-of-service scheme under Cabinet Resolution No. 96 of 2023 is voluntary for mainland and non-financial free-zone employers and uses the same 5.83% and 8.33% rates. DEWS is the DIFC's own mandatory regime.
Related
- Free zonesWhich law applies where
- ADGM end of serviceThe other financial free zone, which kept a gratuity
- Every line you are owedThe rest of a settlement still applies in the DIFC
Published 2026-10-18 and reviewed against DIFC Employment Law No. 2 of 2019 as amended. General guidance, not legal advice — see the disclaimer.