Under Article 54 of Qatar’s Labour Law, an employer pays an end-of-service gratuity to every worker who has completed one full year of service. The employer and worker agree the amount, but it cannot be less than three weeks’ wage for each year of service, worked out on the last basic wage, with part years paid pro rata.
What the law requires
Article 54 of Labour Law No. 14 of 2004 makes the gratuity a duty of the employer, on top of any other sums owed to the worker when service ends. The employer and the worker agree the amount, with a floor: not less than three weeks’ wage for each year of service. A contract may give more, never less. The article itself has not been amended; the 2020 and 2026 amendments to the Labour Law changed other articles around it.
- Full service before the gratuity is due
- 1 year
- Least wage for each year of service
- 3 weeks
- The last basic wage is the base
- Basic wage
- All dues paid by the end of it
- Next working day
From Labour Law No. 14 of 2004, Articles 54 and 67 (Arabic text on Al Meezan), checked 21 Oct 2026.
The Labour Law does not cover everyone. As replaced by Law No. 9 of 2026, its Article 3 excludes, among others, government staff, staff of state petroleum and petrochemical companies and of companies set up by QatarEnergy, domestic workers, the employer’s family members, casual workers, most agricultural workers, and part-time or freelance workers. This article covers workers under the Labour Law.
Who qualifies
A worker qualifies after one full year with the same employer. After that, fractions of a year count in proportion to the time served. Service stays continuous through leave or absence allowed by law or contract, and when a contract ends, other than by dismissal under Article 61, and the worker is taken back within two months. A fixed-term contract that both sides keep running after it expires becomes open-ended, and service is counted from the date the worker first joined.
Article 54 sets no separate rule for resignation. The rule that removes the gratuity is Article 61, which lets an employer dismiss a worker without notice and without gratuity in listed cases. They include forged documents or a false identity, disclosing the company’s secrets, assaulting the employer or a manager at work, and absence without a lawful reason for more than seven days in a row or fifteen days in a year. Law No. 9 of 2026 added an eleventh case: inciting other workers to an unlawful strike that disrupts the employer’s business.
How gratuity is worked out
Three inputs set the minimum: the basic wage, the length of service and the three-week rate. Article 72 says the gratuity is calculated on the basic wage at the date it falls due; for a worker paid by the piece, the average wage of the last three months is used. The law defines the basic wage as the rate paid for the work, including only the annual increment. Allowances, bonuses and other pay belong to the wider "wage" and are not part of the base.
| Service | Minimum gratuity |
|---|---|
| Less than one full year | Not due under Article 54 |
| 1 year | 3 weeks of basic wage |
| 2 years and 6 months | 7.5 weeks of basic wage |
| 5 years | 15 weeks of basic wage |
| 10 years | 30 weeks of basic wage |
Deductions and amounts owed
The gratuity is paid in addition to everything else due at the end of service: wages earned, and cash for any annual leave not taken, which Article 81 says the worker cannot give up. From the gratuity, the employer may deduct sums the worker owes it.
Two other rules can change the payment. An employer with a pension or similar scheme that gives the worker more than the Article 54 gratuity need not pay both; if the scheme gives less, the employer pays the gratuity and returns what the worker paid into the scheme, and the worker may choose between the gratuity and a pension under that scheme. If a worker dies in service, the employer deposits the wages, other dues and the gratuity with the competent court within 15 days, with a report showing how the amounts were worked out, and sends a copy to the labour department.
Paying on termination or resignation
| Situation | What the Labour Law says |
|---|---|
| Notice to end an open-ended contract | One month in the first two years of service, two months after that (Article 49) |
| The contract ends, for any reason | Wages and all dues paid before the end of the next working day (Article 67) |
| The worker left without giving notice | Wages and all dues paid within seven days of leaving (Article 67) |
| Return journey | Paid by the employer, with the return of a non-Qatari worker arranged within two weeks of the contract ending (Article 57) |
| Service certificate | Given free on request, with the start and end dates, the work and the wage (Article 53) |
| Records | An end-of-service register with the dates, the reasons and the dues paid (Article 48) |
Late final pay has a cost. Breaking Article 67 is punishable by up to one month in prison, a fine of QAR 2,000 to 6,000, or both, and the fine is multiplied by the number of workers affected. If a worker and the employer disagree about the settlement, Article 115 bis, as replaced in 2026, sends the dispute first to the labour department, which tries to settle it within seven days before it passes to a Labour Dispute Settlement Committee.
How we help
We help you work out each worker’s gratuity and final settlement from your payroll records, keep a running schedule of what every worker has earned so far, and prepare the figures in time for the next-working-day deadline. A labour lawyer advises on disputed dismissals, and the labour department and its committees decide any dispute.
