Ending a domestic worker's contract: final dues, the flight home and gratuity

When a domestic worker's contract expires, the employer must pay the worker's dues within 10 days, under Federal Decree-Law No. 9 of 2022. The same law puts her flight home on the employer in general, with exceptions, and leaves the gratuity rules to the Cabinet. As of September 2026, we found no official gratuity formula, so we don't quote one.

MOHRE, the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation, handles domestic workers' permits and disputes. The law is Federal Decree-Law No. 9 of 2022 (opens in a new tab), the Domestic Workers Decree-Law. Her dues (her final settlement) are what she is still owed when the job ends, repatriation means her journey home, and a gratuity is a payment at the end of service. We found no official list of what her dues include, so this guide takes each item the law covers in turn.

It is written for a family that sponsors its own helper. If a recruitment office sponsors her or placed her with you, see the agency section below as well. If you're leaving the UAE yourself, our guide to what to do about your helper covers the options.

What do you owe your maid when her contract ends?

Any wages you haven't paid yet, cash for her unused annual leave, anything extra her contract promises and, in general, her flight home. Here is each item, with the Decree-Law's rule where it has one:

• Wages. A domestic worker's wages must be paid monthly in UAE dirhams, within 10 days of the due date. Pay any wages still owed for the time she has worked.
• Unused annual leave. A domestic worker is entitled to at least 30 days' paid annual leave for each year of service. When a domestic worker's contract ends, unused annual leave is paid in cash, based on the last wage.
• Anything extra her contract promises. The rights in the Domestic Workers Decree-Law are minimums: better terms in a contract or another law prevail, and any term that is worse for the worker is void. So check her contract for anything it gives her beyond the Decree-Law, and include it when you settle up.
• Her flight home. In general, you pay. The section below shows who pays in each case the law sets out.

We found no official page that says how to turn her last wage into a day's pay for unused leave, so agree the figure with her in writing, and ask MOHRE on 600 590000 if you're unsure. Our guide to annual leave and flight tickets explains how her leave works.

Timing matters too. When a domestic worker's contract expires, the employer must pay the worker's dues within 10 days. We found no official deadline for a contract that ends another way, such as by agreement, so in that case settle promptly and check with MOHRE on 600 590000.

When does a domestic worker's contract end?

When it expires, when you both agree, or in one of the other cases the Decree-Law lists. How it ends decides which rules on her dues and her flight home apply.

Under the Domestic Workers Decree-Law, the cases in which a domestic worker's contract ends include its expiry without extension, both sides' agreement, the worker's death or total disability, the employer's death (unless the family and the worker agree to continue until the contract expires), the worker's conviction or imprisonment for a felony or misdemeanour, and the worker using up all sick leave or being medically unfit.

Either side can also end it early for a breach. Under the Domestic Workers Decree-Law, either side may end a domestic worker's contract alone if the other breaches its obligations under the law, and if the termination is not the worker's fault, the employer pays the worker's dues and the cost of repatriation. We found no official page that says what counts as a breach, who decides whose fault an ending is, or how the Decree-Law's repatriation rule applies when you end the contract for her breach, so ask MOHRE on 600 590000 before you end a contract this way.

We found no general notice period for either side in the Decree-Law, and we haven't been able to read the text of MOHRE's standard contract, so check what yours says about ending it.

Probation is the trial period at the start of the job, and the Decree-Law caps it. A domestic worker's probation may not last more than six months from the start of employment. For ending a contract during probation, see our guide to probation, replacement and refunds.

Under the Domestic Workers Decree-Law, a domestic worker's contract ends if the worker is absent without a valid reason for more than 10 consecutive days, or 15 separate days, in a year. If she has stopped coming to work, you also have a reporting duty. Under the Domestic Workers Decree-Law, an employer must notify MOHRE within five days if a domestic worker abandons work. Ask MOHRE on 600 590000 before you treat the contract as over, and see our guide to when a helper stops coming to work.

If she wants to move to another family before her contract ends, the International Labour Organization (ILO) summarises the consent rule. The ILO's May 2024 brief on UAE rules, citing Ministerial Resolution No. 674 of 2022, says a domestic worker's move to a new employer during the contract term needs the current employer's written consent. Our guide to hiring a helper who is already in the UAE covers the transfer steps.

Who pays for a maid's flight home when the contract ends?

In general, the employer, under the Decree-Law. The employer pays for a domestic worker's flight home, except that the agency pays when an agency-recruited worker is returned, a directly recruited worker who quits after probation without a valid reason pays their own unless they cannot, and the original employer does not pay when the worker moves to a new employer.

We found no official page that says how these rules apply when the contract ends for her breach, or after she stops coming to work; ask MOHRE on 600 590000 before anyone books a ticket.

This flight is separate from her annual leave ticket. If a domestic worker spends annual leave in their home country, the employer pays for a return ticket once every two years. We found no official page that says whether a leave ticket she hasn't used is paid out when the contract ends.

How is a maid's gratuity calculated in the UAE?

We found no official formula to calculate it. The Domestic Workers Decree-Law (No. 9 of 2022) does not itself set an end-of-service gratuity; Article 22 leaves the rules to the Cabinet. As of September 2026, we found no Cabinet decision setting those rules, and the ILO said in May 2024 that they had not yet been determined.

So we give no gratuity formula or figure. Gratuity figures and calculators on other websites have no official source that we could find. Federal Decree-Law No. 9 of 2022 on domestic workers repealed the earlier Federal Law No. 10 of 2017 on domestic workers, so a calculator based on the 2017 law may be out of date.

What you can do instead:

• Read her contract. If it promises an end-of-service payment, check that term, and ask MOHRE on 600 590000.
• If a recruitment office sponsors her, ask the office what it pays her at the end of the contract (see the agency section below).
• If you agree a payment with her, put the amount in writing, and keep proof that you paid it.
• Check before her last day. Rules can change, so ask MOHRE on 600 590000 whether any gratuity rule applies before her contract ends.

Can you deduct anything from a maid's final pay?

Only within the Decree-Law's limits, which cover two cases. A court-ordered debt can be deducted from a domestic worker's wage up to a quarter of the wage, and the repair cost of loss or damage the worker caused can be deducted only with the worker's consent, or with MOHRE's approval if the worker refuses, and never more than a quarter of the salary.

Separately, the Decree-Law limits what you can charge her. An employer may not charge a domestic worker any cost, directly or indirectly, unless the law, the regulations, MOHRE decisions or the approved contract allow it. We found no official rule that allows any other deduction, so ask MOHRE on 600 590000 before you take anything else off her final pay.

How do you settle a maid's final dues, step by step?

Plan it with her before her last day, in this order:

1. Confirm how and when the contract ends. Check what your contract says. If you are ending it early by agreement, put that in writing and both sign it.
2. List what she's owed. Write down each item: wages still owed, unused leave and anything extra in her contract. Go through the list with her.
3. Pay on time. If the contract expires, pay within the deadline above. If it ends another way, settle promptly.
4. Keep proof, as the Decree-Law requires. Payment of a domestic worker's wages must be proven by a written receipt or another method MOHRE approves. Keep the written list with it.
5. Leave her documents with her. Under the Domestic Workers Decree-Law, a domestic worker has the right to keep all their official documents, including their passport and ID, and an employer may not hold them.
6. Book her flight if it is yours to pay (see the table above), for a date she agrees to.
7. Arrange the cancellation of her permit, or her transfer (see below).

Cancelling her permit

Cancelling a domestic worker's work permit or entry permit through MOHRE costs AED 65, or AED 85.75 in Dubai, as of September 2026. No official page we found says who pays it. MOHRE's cancellation service (opens in a new tab) has the details.

ICP is the Federal Authority for Identity, Citizenship, Customs and Port Security. ICP's cancellation page says a domestic worker's residence is cancelled through MOHRE or the Domestic Work Bundle, including fee settlement and the cancellation of the residence and the linked Emirates ID. The government's Work Bundle portal sends Dubai employers to the DubaiNow app for domestic-worker services, and links the other emirates to ICP's smart services.

If an agency placed her

Recruitment offices offer packages, and what you owe depends on yours. In a Traditional package she is on your own file, so the rules above apply to you, and if she is returned, the office pays her flight home (see the table above). Under MOHRE's operations manual for recruitment agencies, the agency sponsors the worker in the Temporary package and holds the worker's visa in the Flexible package, and in both it pays the worker's salary, legal entitlements and medical costs.

So on a Temporary or Flexible package, ask the office what it will pay her at the end. Our guide to probation, replacement and refunds covers what an office owes you if she is returned.

If you recruited her from India through eMigrate

eMigrate is the Indian government's online system for recruiting its workers for jobs abroad. ECR is a status shown in some Indian passports: the Consulate General of India in Dubai spells it out as Emigration Clearance Required, and the Embassy of India in Abu Dhabi's insurance page as Emigration Check Required. A UAE family recruiting an Indian woman with an ECR passport directly through eMigrate pays a refundable AED 9,200 deposit when her visa is attested at the Embassy of India in Abu Dhabi or the Consulate General of India in Dubai, as applicable.

You claim it back when she leaves for good. The Embassy of India in Abu Dhabi says a sponsor who recruited a female ECR worker from India through eMigrate has to bring her for an exit interview at the Embassy before her final departure to India. When the contract ends by mutual consent, the Embassy's page says you and she should go to the Embassy in Abu Dhabi in person and submit a written request for the refund before she leaves, and she confirms in writing that her dues have been settled.

The page also says no refund is made if she is sent back to India without her dues cleared. If she complains of unpaid dues, or the Embassy pays costs for her, such as accommodation, food, local transport, medical treatment or her flight home, those costs come out of the deposit and only the balance is refunded. Our guide to hiring an Indian helper has more on the deposit.

How can MaidMatch help when a helper leaves?

By helping you find the next one. MaidMatch is a free platform for families: they can browse every profile at no cost, with no registration or subscription required. Families contact helpers directly on WhatsApp, through the Hire button on each profile.

Before you start any paperwork, ask each helper what visa she holds now. How MaidMatch works shows the three steps from browsing profiles to contacting a helper.