Under Qatar's Labour Law, annual leave is three weeks a year for less than five years of service and four weeks from five years, and it is paid on your basic wage rather than your full package. Three articles do the work, and they are usually quoted as one: Article 79 sets the entitlement, Article 72 fixes the wage it is paid at, and Article 81 is the one that turns leave you never took into money when you leave.
That third article is the one most guides miss. Article 79 tells you how many days you have earned; it says nothing about cashing them in. Article 81 does, and it also says something employers sometimes test: you cannot sign your annual leave away.
Work out your own balance below, then read what each article actually says.
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The three articles, and what each one does
| Article | What it governs | The rule |
|---|---|---|
| Art. 79 | Entitlement | 3 weeks a year under 5 years' service, 4 weeks from 5 years, pro rata for fractions of a year |
| Art. 72 | The wage it is paid at | Basic wage on the due date; piecework uses the average of the last 3 months |
| Art. 80 | Timing and carry-forward | Employer sets the dates; split into at most 2 periods; at most half may be postponed a year |
| Art. 81 | Cash in lieu | Leave cannot be waived; unused leave is cashed out when the contract ends, for any reason |
Article 79 — three weeks, four weeks, and the fractions clause
Article 79 reads: "The Worker who has completed a continuous whole year in the service of the Employer shall be entitled to annual leave with the Remuneration stipulated in Article 72 of this Law. This leave shall not be less than three weeks for the employment of less than five years, and four weeks for the employment of five years or more. The Worker shall be entitled to a leave for fractions of the year in proportion to the period of his service."
Two things in there are worth separating, because reading only the first sentence produces a common and expensive mistake.
The continuous whole year in the opening sentence is the condition for taking leave as leave. The final sentence grants leave for fractions of a year in proportion to service, and that is what makes a departing worker with eight months' service owed something rather than nothing. A worker on QAR 5,000 basic who leaves at eight months has accrued 14 days, worth QAR 2,333.33 — not zero, whatever a payroll officer citing the "one whole year" sentence tells you.
Note also "shall not be less than". Three and four weeks are floors. A contract can be more generous and many Qatari employers are; none can be less.
The step from three weeks to four is at five years, and it applies from that point onward rather than retroactively. Five years of service accrues 105 days, not 140: the first five years earn at 21 days a year, and only the years after that earn at 28.
Article 72 — the basic wage, and why that matters more than it sounds
Article 72 is one sentence and it decides most of the money: "The Remuneration of the Worker for the annual or sick leave and the end service gratuity shall be calculated on the basis of his Basic Wage on the due date. If the Worker works on a piecework basis, the calculation shall be based on the Worker's average Remuneration for the three months preceding the maturity date."
So annual leave, sick leave and the end-of-service gratuity all share one base: basic pay. Housing, transport and any other allowance stay out of it.
On a typical Qatari package this is not a rounding difference. A worker on QAR 6,000 basic plus QAR 2,000 allowances has a leave day worth QAR 200, not the QAR 266.67 a full-wage calculation would give — a third less. Across a 41-day balance that is a gap of QAR 2,733.
This is also where Qatar differs from most of its neighbours, and the difference runs in both directions:
| Country | Unused leave is paid on | Article |
|---|---|---|
| Qatar | Basic wage | Art. 72 |
| UAE | Basic wage | Cabinet Res. 1/2022, Art. 19 |
| Oman | Gross wage | Art. 78 & 81 |
| Saudi Arabia | Full wage | Art. 111 |
| Kuwait | Full wage | Art. 55 |
| Bahrain | Basic wage + social allowance | Art. 47 |
If you have worked in Oman or Saudi Arabia before Qatar, do not carry the assumption across. The same balance on the same package is worth materially less here.
The piecework limb matters for a minority but matters a lot to them: if you are paid by the piece, your leave is priced on your average remuneration over the three months before the entitlement matured, not on a nominal basic figure.
Article 80 — you can only carry half of it forward
This is the provision that catches people who have been saving leave for a long trip home. Article 80 gives the employer the right to set the dates of annual leave according to work requirements, and allows the leave to be divided with the worker's consent, provided it is not split into more than two periods.
Then the limit: "The Employer may, by virtue of a written request from the Worker, postpone not more than half of the annual leave to the next year following its maturity."
Half. Not all of it, and not by informal agreement — the article requires a written request from the worker. So a worker on the four-week band can carry at most 14 days into the following year, and only by asking in writing. A balance that has quietly accumulated over three or four years has no clear footing in Article 80, and the practical consequence is an argument at the point of departure rather than a clean calculation.
The calculator above pays out whatever balance you enter, because it cannot know what was agreed in writing and when. If your balance is large, expect the carry-forward question to be raised, and expect to be asked for the written requests.
Article 81 — the article that actually creates the payout
Article 81 is short and it is the one to quote when you leave: "The Worker may not waive his right to the annual leave. Any agreement to the contrary shall be null and void. If the Employment Contract ended, for any reason, before taking such leave, the Worker shall be entitled to a cash alternative equivalent to his payment for the due leave days."
Three things follow.
You cannot sign it away. A clause in a contract or a settlement agreement that waives accrued annual leave is void by the terms of the article itself, not merely unenforceable in practice.
"For any reason" means for any reason. Resignation, dismissal, expiry of a fixed term, or dismissal for cause under Article 61 — the cash alternative is owed in every case. Unlike the gratuity under Article 54, which requires a completed year and can be lost on an Article 61 dismissal, the leave balance is simply money you have already earned.
The rate is "his payment for the due leave days", which routes back through Article 79 to Article 72, and therefore to the basic wage.
Worked examples
Every figure here comes from running the calculator above, so they reconcile exactly.
Three years, QAR 6,000 basic + QAR 2,000 allowances, 40 days already taken
- Accrued: 36 months × (21 ÷ 12) = 63 days
- Unused: 63 − 40 = 23 days
- Daily rate under Art. 72: 6,000 ÷ 30 = QAR 200
- Cash alternative: 23 × 200 = QAR 4,600
Seven years, same package, 120 days already taken
- First five years: 60 months × (21 ÷ 12) = 105 days. Years six and seven: 24 months × (28 ÷ 12) = 56 days. Total 161 days.
- Unused: 161 − 120 = 41 days
- Cash alternative: 41 × 200 = QAR 8,200
Note what the five-year step does here. Had the four-week rate applied from day one, seven years would have accrued 196 days instead of 161 — a difference of 35 days, or QAR 7,000. The step is not retroactive.
Eight months, QAR 5,000 basic, no leave taken
- Accrued: 8 months × (21 ÷ 12) = 14 days
- Daily rate: 5,000 ÷ 30 = QAR 166.67
- Cash alternative: 14 × 166.67 = QAR 2,333.33
This is the case that gets wrongly zeroed. Article 79's fractions clause is what makes it payable.
Three mistakes worth avoiding
- Calculating on the full salary. Article 72 says basic wage. On a package that is 75% basic, using the gross figure overstates the payout by a third — and an employer who has already paid on basic is right.
- Assuming the four-week rate backdates. It applies from five years onward. The first five years always accrue at 21 days a year.
- Assuming a long-accumulated balance is safe. Article 80 caps carry-forward at half a year's entitlement, on a written request. It is better to raise this while you are still employed than at the settlement meeting.
Frequently Asked Questions
How is annual leave salary calculated in Qatar?
Multiply your unused leave days by your daily basic wage, which is your monthly basic salary divided by 30. Article 72 requires the basic wage rather than the full package, so allowances are excluded. On a QAR 6,000 basic salary a leave day is worth QAR 200, and a 23-day balance is worth QAR 4,600.
How many annual leave days am I entitled to in Qatar?
Three weeks a year if your service is under five years, and four weeks a year from five years onward, under Article 79. Those are minimums — a contract may give more. Leave also accrues for fractions of a year in proportion to service, so a worker leaving at eight months has earned about 14 days.
Is annual leave in Qatar paid on basic salary or total salary?
Basic salary. Article 72 puts the wage for annual leave, sick leave and the end-of-service gratuity all on the basic wage as at the due date. Workers paid on a piecework basis are the exception: their leave is calculated on the average remuneration of the three months before the entitlement matured.
Can I carry my annual leave over to next year in Qatar?
Up to half of it, and only on a written request. Article 80 allows the employer to postpone not more than half the annual leave to the following year at the worker's written request. The same article lets the employer set the leave dates and split the leave into no more than two periods, with the worker's consent.
Do I get paid for unused annual leave when I leave a job in Qatar?
Yes. Article 81 entitles you to a cash alternative equivalent to your payment for the due leave days where the contract ends for any reason before you have taken the leave. It applies whether you resigned, were dismissed, or your fixed term expired, and it cannot be waived by agreement.
Can my employer make me waive my annual leave in Qatar?
No. Article 81 states that a worker may not waive his right to annual leave and that any agreement to the contrary is null and void. A contract clause or a settlement document purporting to give up accrued leave has no effect on that right.
Does the four-week leave entitlement apply to my earlier years too?
No, it starts at five years and runs forward. The first five years accrue at three weeks a year, and only service beyond that accrues at four. Seven years therefore earns 161 days, not 196 — the difference is 35 days, or QAR 7,000 on a QAR 6,000 basic salary.
Where to go next
The Qatar leave salary calculator works out the cash value of an unused balance, and the Qatar annual leave calculator works out the day count itself if that is the question you have.
When you are leaving rather than planning a trip, leave is one line of a larger figure. The Qatar final settlement calculator adds the Article 54 gratuity, this leave balance, notice pay and any unpaid salary, each on the wage base its own article requires. If you also worked through a public holiday on the way out, overtime rates across the GCC covers what Qatar owes for those hours, and the Qatar overtime calculator prices them.