DIFC doesn't pay gratuity — it pays into DEWS

What replaced the gratuity

DEWS — the DIFC Employee Workplace Savings plan — is a funded master trust established in the DIFC and regulated by the DFSA. Employers must contribute monthly, calculated on basic salary:

• 5.83% per month for employees with less than five years of service
• 8.33% per month from five years of service onwards

Those percentages are not arbitrary. They were set to mirror the federal accrual: 5.83% of a monthly basic salary over twelve months equals 21 days of basic pay a year, and 8.33% equals 30 days. On a basic salary of AED 15,000 that is AED 874.50 a month (AED 10,494 a year, against 21 days = AED 10,500) rising to AED 1,249.50 a month once you pass five years.

An employer may use a Qualifying Alternative Scheme instead of DEWS, but only with a Certificate of Compliance issued by the DIFC Authority. The contribution obligation is the same either way.

Three differences that actually matter to you

• The money is already yours. Contributions are paid across monthly into a trust, not promised at exit. Core benefit rights cannot be waived. Nothing is forfeited by resigning, and an employer's cash-flow problems at termination don't stand between you and the balance — you claim from the trustee.
• There is a floor under "basic salary". DIFC law requires basic wage to be at least 50% of the monthly wage, precisely so contributions cannot be shrunk by loading a package with allowances. Onshore there is no such floor, which is why a 40/60 basic-to-allowance split is common there and quietly halves the payout — see basic vs total salary.
• The balance moves with markets. Contributions are invested — a default fund unless you choose otherwise. Over a long tenure that usually beats a static accrual, but it can also fall, which a gratuity entitlement never does. You may also add voluntary contributions of your own at the plan's rates.

Service earned before February 2020

It was not written off. Gratuity accrued up to 31 January 2020 is preserved and paid on termination, or — with your prior written consent — transferred into the savings scheme as a gratuity transfer amount. The consent requirement has teeth: an employer who transfers without it carries the risk of any shortfall between the value in the scheme and the gratuity that would otherwise have been payable.

So a long-serving DIFC employee has two pots: legacy gratuity for service to 31 January 2020, and DEWS from 1 February 2020 onwards. Use the gratuity calculator for the legacy portion and your DEWS statement for the rest.

Who is outside the mandatory scheme

• UAE and GCC nationals, who are covered by GPSSA pension contributions instead. Following a March 2024 amendment, employers are reported to owe a monthly top-up where the GPSSA contribution falls short of the DEWS equivalent, subject to a minimum threshold — check the current position with your employer, as this is the newest and least settled part of the regime.
• Seconded employees holding a valid DIFC secondment card, short-term employees, and equity partners.
• Employees subject to a comparable statutory scheme in another jurisdiction.

What to check while you're still employed

• That contributions are actually arriving. Log into the DEWS member portal and reconcile against your payslips. Missed months are far easier to fix in-year than at exit.
• That your basic salary is at least half your wage. If it isn't, the contribution base is wrong, and so is every month it has been calculated on.
• Which service sits in which pot, if you joined before February 2020 — and whether your legacy gratuity was transferred, with your written consent, or is still owed at exit.
• The exit route. You claim the DEWS balance from the trustee after your employer confirms termination. Bank details in your own name, and don't close a UAE account before the payment lands.

And if you're not in the DIFC?

JAFZA, DMCC, DAFZA and the other Dubai free zones sit under the federal regime — Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021, the same 21/30-day formula as onshore employment, with MOHRE-registered contracts. Only the DIFC and Abu Dhabi's ADGM are separate jurisdictions with their own employment laws; this guide covers the DIFC, and ADGM employees should check that centre's own regulations rather than assuming either regime applies.