End of Service Gratuity in Qatar: How It Is Calculated

End-of-service gratuity is one of the few benefits that grows the longer you stay, and it is also one people most often get shortchanged on, usually because nobody explains the formula clearly beforehand. Here is exactly how it works, what it is based on, and what your employer is allowed to subtract. If you just want a number, use the calculator below to estimate the minimum gratuity from your basic salary and length of service.

Estimate your end of service gratuity

Enter your basic monthly salary, not your total package, along with your completed years and any extra months of service. The calculator applies the standard minimum described in the sections that follow.

Who qualifies

Article 54 applies to a worker who spent one year or more in employment. Service counts as continuous if it ended and the worker returned to work within two months, except where the termination fell under Article 61. The article speaks of gratuity payable at termination. Article 61 is the exception: it lists ten cases, such as false documents or repeated breaches after written warnings, where the employer may dismiss the worker without notice and without paying end of service gratuity. See our guide to termination and notice rules. We did not check how resignation is treated beyond Article 51, so confirm your case with the Ministry of Labour. Gratuity is a separate entitlement from any notice pay or final settlement.

The formula

Article 54 of Labour Law No. 14 of 2004, which we read on Al Meezan in September 2026, says the employer must pay end of service gratuity at termination to a worker who spent one year or more in employment. The gratuity is agreed by the two parties, but it must be not less than three weeks of remuneration for every year of employment, based on the last basic wage. The worker is entitled to gratuity for fractions of a year in proportion to the duration of employment.

So the legal minimum is 21 days of basic pay per year, the standard figure our calculator uses: your basic monthly salary divided by 30, multiplied by 21, multiplied by your years of service, pro-rated for part years. Your contract can promise more than this minimum, so check it.

Worked example

Say your basic monthly salary is QAR 10,000 and you have worked for 5 years and 6 months. Your daily basic wage is 10,000 divided by 30, which is about QAR 333.33. Twenty-one days of that wage is QAR 7,000 for each year of service. Your service period is 5.5 years, so the estimated minimum gratuity is 7,000 multiplied by 5.5, or QAR 38,500. If your total package is higher because of housing and transport allowances, those amounts do not change this figure, since only basic salary counts.

What counts as basic salary and what does not

This is where a lot of confusion happens. Gratuity is calculated on your basic salary only, not your total package. Housing allowance, transport allowance, and other supplementary payments are excluded from the calculation, even if they make up a large share of your monthly pay. If your offer letter bundles most of your compensation into allowances rather than basic salary, your gratuity will be smaller than your total monthly pay might suggest, which is worth knowing before you sign a contract, not after you resign.

What your employer can deduct

Article 54 says the employer is entitled to deduct from the gratuity the amount the worker owes the employer. That covers a genuine debt such as an unpaid loan or advance. We did not find text in that article that lets an employer withhold the gratuity for other reasons. Article 61 separately removes gratuity when a worker is dismissed in one of its listed cases, so read it if your employer says it applies. If a deduction looks unclear or larger than expected, ask for an itemized breakdown before you accept the final figure.

What to do if you think you were shorted

Start by requesting a written breakdown of the calculation from HR, referencing your basic salary and total years of service. If the numbers still do not add up, or your employer is delaying payment altogether, this is a valid reason to file a labor complaint. Gratuity disputes are common enough that the Ministry of Labour's process handles them regularly.

If you are planning your exit more broadly, our guide on changing jobs in Qatar without an NOC and our checklist for canceling your residence permit when leaving for good cover the rest of the process.