Employees in the UAE are entitled to end-of-service benefits — and this applies to domestic workers, too.
Unlike in companies where an HR department takes charge of gratuity disbursements based on federal laws, families have to do the calculations on their own for their house maids and nannies.
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The process becomes complicated when certain factors are thrown in: What if the nanny resigns for no reason? Or the domestic worker was unfairly dismissed? If the contract was breached, is he/she still entitled to gratuity?
In the same way, does the employer have the right to demand a sum of money if a housemaid quits before the contract ends?
Simplifying the process of determining end-of-service benefits, the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation (Mohre) has created an online calculator that instantly tells a user how much the gratuity should depending on circumstances.
Here’s how to use the calculator:
- Step 1: Keep the job contract ready
You will need to know details about the domestic worker’s employment, so it’s best to keeo the contract handy.
- Step 2: Go to Mohre’s official website
Log into https://www.mohre.gov.ae/ and, on the home page, click on the ‘Services’ tab. On the drop-down list, you’ll see the ‘Domestic Workers Calculator’.
- Step 3: Fill out the basic details
Upon clicking on the calculator option, you will be directed to a simple form.
The basic information you have to enter include the contract’s start and end date and the salary of the worker.
You’ll also need to specify the reason why the worker is leaving. There are four options:
- Contract ended
- Worker resigned for no reason
- Worker resigned because the employer breached the contract
- Worker dismissed for no reason
- Worker dismissed for breaching the contract
Take note that the ‘total allowances’ amount at the bottom changes depending on the selection. If you click on ‘worker resigned for no reason’, you will find a negative amount, which means this is how much the housemaid or nanny needs to pay for breaching the contract. For example, if it displays -1800, it means the amount that employer should get is Dh1,800.
- Step 4: Enter unpaid allowances
Domestic workers are entitled to other benefits like annual leave salary, and if he/she suffers injuries while on job, compensation must be paid by the employer, too.
There are four boxes at the bottom of the calculator. Here’s what they mean:
- Specific period salary: Enter any unpaid salary for a certain period
- Annual leave salary: Specify the duration of unclaimed leave or leaves that the employer failed to pay
- Weekend allowance: Specify weekends when the employee was asked to work
- Work injury: If a worker suffers an injury while on duty, the employer will need to provide compensation depending on the severity of the condition. The ‘disability percentage’ has to be specified to determine the amount (Medical reports and official records would usually identify this percentage).
The amount displayed in the ‘total allowances’ box is what the employer has to pay as end-of-service benefit. If it’s negative, it means the domestic worker will have to pay the employer.