End of service benefit
A lump sum paid when you leave a Gulf airline, calculated on basic salary and years of service in place of a pension.
Definition
End of service benefit, or gratuity, is the statutory lump sum an employer in the Gulf states must pay when a contract ends, standing in for the pension contributions common elsewhere. Under UAE labour law it accrues at 21 days' basic salary for each of the first five years of service and 30 days per year thereafter, calculated on basic pay only, with Qatar's law setting a minimum of three weeks' basic per year. Resigning early in a contract, or dismissal for cause, can reduce or forfeit it.
What it means for you
For most Gulf crew this is the only retirement provision the job offers, so know what it is worth: on a basic of AED 4,500–5,000 it accrues slowly, because flying pay and allowances do not count. It also changes the maths of leaving — a crew member at four years and ten months gains a jump in the accrual rate by staying a few weeks longer.
In practice
Emirates lists end-of-service gratuity among its benefits, paid on leaving; a crew member departing after five years receives roughly 105 days of basic pay as a single sum with the final salary.
Related terms
4 terms- Basic salaryPay & benefitsThe fixed monthly amount paid regardless of hours flown; only one part of crew pay, and at US carriers barely present at all.
- Tax-free salaryPay & benefitsPay received with no income tax deducted, as in the UAE and Qatar — subject to the tax rules of the country you remain resident in.
- PensionPay & benefitsThe retirement savings element of a crew package — company-matched contributions in the West, a gratuity instead in the Gulf.
- Crew contractRecruitmentThe agreement fixing your pay structure, base, contract length, training bond and notice — read it before you resign from anything.