Domestic Worker Gratuity Qatar (2026): Maids, Drivers, Nannies and Cooks

Domestic worker gratuity Qatar runs on a different law from everyone else’s — and on a base that is usually more generous.

Maids, drivers, nannies, cooks and gardeners in Qatar are excluded from Labour Law No. 14 of 2004. Their end-of-service benefit comes from Law No. 15 of 201Why Domestic Worker Gratuity Qatar Often Beats the Company Formula7, which gives at least three weeks’ wages for every year of service.

That is the same three-week rate a company employee gets. The difference is the base it applies to. A company employee’s gratuity is calculated on basic salary alone, after housing and transport are stripped out. A domestic worker has no such split — the whole contracted salary is the figure.

On QAR 2,000 a month, five years of service pays QAR 7,000. A company employee on a QAR 2,000 package with a QAR 1,200 basic would receive QAR 4,200 for the same five years.

Quick Answer

Formula: (Monthly wage ÷ 30) × 21 × Years of service

One year of service is worth 70% of one month’s wage.

Three rules sit on top of that table, and each one changes the answer:

• Nothing is payable below 12 months of service
• Service for gratuity purposes counts from 10 October 2017 at the earliest
• There is no maximum cap

All three are covered below.

Which Law Applies to You

This is worth settling first, because the two laws are often quoted interchangeably and they are not the same instrument.

Law No. 14 of 2004 — the Labour Law — expressly excludes domestic workers from its provisions. If you are a maid, driver, nanny, cook, gardener or similar worker employed in a private household, the Labour Law does not cover your employment.

Law No. 15 of 2017 — the Domestic Workers Law — came into force on 10 October 2017 and covers you instead.

It sets a written contract certified by the Ministry, a maximum ten-hour working day, one paid rest day each week, three weeks of paid annual leave, a return air ticket, and an end-of-service benefit of at least three weeks’ wages per year of service.

The 2017 law does not operate in isolation. It incorporates certain provisions of the Labour Law, including end-of-service benefits, workplace injury, recruitment rules and dispute handling.

That is why the three-week rate matches the Article 54 rate for company employees — it was brought across deliberately.

So when someone tells you Article 54 doesn’t apply to housemaids, they are technically right and practically wrong. The entitlement is the same.

How Domestic Worker Gratuity Qatar Is Calculated

Three steps, and the first one is where most of the value sits.

Step one: your wage is your whole salary

Gratuity for domestic workers in Qatar is calculated on the wage stated in your certified contract. There is no basic-versus-allowance split to argue about, because domestic worker contracts are not structured that way. The monthly figure on the contract is the figure.

That matters more than it sounds. The single biggest cause of short gratuity payments for company employees in Qatar is a contract where only 50–60% of the package counts as basic salary. A domestic worker’s contract doesn’t carry that problem.

Food and accommodation do not reduce it. Law No. 15 of 2017 requires the sponsor to provide suitable accommodation, food and medical care.

Those are obligations alongside the wage, not components of it. A sponsor cannot assign a value to the room and meals and deduct it from the gratuity base.

Step two: convert to a daily rate

Divide the monthly wage by 30.

On QAR 1,800 a month, the daily wage is QAR 60.

Step three: multiply by 21, then by years of service

Three weeks is 21 days.

QAR 60 × 21 = QAR 1,260 for each year of service.

The rate never increases. Qatar applies a flat three weeks to every year, whether it is your first or your fifteenth. Unlike Kuwait, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, there is no higher band after five years — and unlike the UAE and Kuwait, there is no ceiling on the total.

Run your own figures in the Qatar Gratuity Calculator before any settlement conversation.

The 10 October 2017 Rule

This is the single most expensive detail on the page, and almost nothing written about maid gratuity in Qatar mentions it.

The end-of-service benefit under Law No. 15 of 2017 starts to accrue from the date the law came into force — 10 October 2017. Service completed before that date does not generate an entitlement under this law.

For a worker who started in 2023, the point is academic. For long-serving workers it is not.

Worked example. A housemaid employed since March 2012 on QAR 1,800 a month, leaving in March 2026:

A QAR 7,035 difference, decided by a date in the statute rather than anything either party did.

If you began before October 2017 and you are being told a higher figure, do not assume it is an error in your favour — some sponsors pay from the original start date voluntarily, and some settlement statements are simply wrong. Either way, ask which start date was used and get it in writing.

Part Years Are Paid in Proportion

You do not lose the months between anniversaries. Once you pass twelve months, every additional month earns its share.

On QAR 1,800, each month past the first year is worth QAR 105:

Below twelve months, nothing is payable. The benefit is only due after a full year of work, which is also why a worker who leaves at eleven months receives no gratuity at all.

If your sponsor has rounded your service down to a whole year, that is worth raising. Eight unpaid months on QAR 1,800 is QAR 840.

Driver Gratuity Qatar: Same Law, Same Rate

A private driver employed by a household falls under Law No. 15 of 2017 exactly as a housemaid does. So does a nanny, a cook, a gardener and a private nurse employed in the home.

The distinction that matters is who employs you, not what work you do.

A driver employed by a transport company on a QAR 2,500 package split as QAR 1,500 basic plus QAR 1,000 allowances receives gratuity on QAR 1,500. A driver employed directly by a family on QAR 2,500 receives it on QAR 2,500.

Over ten years that is QAR 10,500 against QAR 17,500 — on the same monthly income and the same decade of work. Our QAR 5,000 salary breakdown explains how the basic-salary split works for company employees.

Why Domestic Worker Gratuity Qatar Often Beats the Company Formula

Put the two side by side on the same monthly figure of QAR 2,000.

The rate is identical in all three rows. Only the base differs — and the domestic worker’s base is the whole salary.

This is the part that surprises people. Domestic work in Qatar carries fewer protections than company employment in several respects, but on the gratuity base specifically, the structure works in the worker’s favour.

What Should Be in the Final Settlement

The gratuity is one line. A complete settlement at the end of a domestic worker’s contract normally includes:

• End-of-service gratuity — three weeks’ wages per year, from 10 October 2017 onwards
• Unpaid wages to the last working day
• Unused annual leave — the law provides three weeks of paid leave per year
• Return air ticket to the home country, where due under the contract
• Any amounts promised in the certified contract beyond the statutory minimum

Ask for every line written down with the figures shown. A settlement handed over as a single cash sum with no breakdown is impossible to check, and impossible to dispute later.

When Payment Is Due

The end-of-service benefit falls due when the contract ends.

Two practical points carry real weight here.

Settle before you leave Qatar. Once you are outside the country, pursuing an unpaid settlement becomes considerably harder — you cannot attend meetings, you cannot visit the Ministry, and the practical leverage of being present disappears.

If your travel date is close and the money has not arrived, deal with it before you fly.

Do not sign a release before you are paid. A release confirms you have received everything owed and have no further claim. Signed before the money arrives, it removes almost all of your position. The correct order is: written breakdown, check the figure, receive the payment, then sign.

If Your Sponsor Will Not Pay

Law No. 15 of 2017 incorporates the Labour Law’s dispute provisions, so the route is the same one company employees use.

Start in writing. Ask for a written statement showing the monthly wage used, your service start and end dates, the number of days applied per year, and any deductions.

Many disputes end at this step, because a figure someone has to write down and attach their name to tends to get corrected on its own.

Gather your documents before you escalate:

• Your Ministry-certified contract — this is your strongest single document
• Your Qatar ID
• Bank transfer records or wage receipts
• Any written messages where payment was promised, delayed or refused
• Your resignation or termination letter, if one exists

Then file a complaint through the Ministry of Labour’s official channels. The Ministry reviews the case, contacts the employer and attempts to resolve it. Where it is not settled there, the matter can be referred onward for formal determination.

Note that the Arabic text of your certified contract prevails if the two language versions differ. If you were given an English copy only, ask for the Arabic original before any dispute goes forward.

We have set out the full process, step by step, in Employer Not Paying Gratuity Qatar: What to Do — and if your sponsor is linking the payment to your visa, that is a separate obligation, not a condition of it.

For Sponsors: What to Budget

If you employ a domestic worker, the liability accrues from the day the contract passes twelve months, whether or not you set money aside for it.

The number to plan with is 70% of one month’s wage, per year of service.

Three things that keep sponsors out of trouble: keep the certified contract and all wage transfer records, pay through traceable transfers rather than cash, and record the exact start date in writing. Most disputes in this area are about dates and amounts nobody documented, not about the law.

Work Out Your Own Figure First

Enter the monthly wage from the certified contract and your service dates in the Qatar Gratuity Calculator.

If your employment began before 10 October 2017, run it twice — once from your actual start date and once from 10 October 2017 — so you know both figures before the conversation starts.

Then the only thing left to examine is the difference, which is a much shorter discussion than starting from zero.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do domestic workers get gratuity in Qatar? Yes. Law No. 15 of 2017 entitles domestic workers to at least three weeks’ wages for each year of service, payable when the contract ends.

How is domestic worker gratuity Qatar calculated? Divide the monthly wage by 30, multiply by 21, then multiply by years of service. One year is worth roughly 70% of one month’s wage.

How much gratuity for a maid on QAR 1,800 after 5 years? QAR 6,300. On QAR 2,000 it is QAR 7,000, and on QAR 2,500 it is QAR 8,750.

Does the Labour Law apply to housemaids? Domestic workers are excluded from Labour Law No. 14 of 2004. Law No. 15 of 2017 covers them, and it incorporates several Labour Law provisions including end-of-service benefits.

Does service before October 2017 count? The end-of-service benefit accrues from 10 October 2017, when Law No. 15 of 2017 came into force.

Service before that date does not generate an entitlement under this law, though some sponsors pay from the original start date voluntarily.

Is there a minimum service period? Yes. The benefit is payable after twelve months of work. Below one year, nothing is due.

Is gratuity calculated on the full salary or a basic portion? On the wage stated in the certified contract. Domestic worker contracts carry no basic-versus-allowance split, so the whole monthly salary is the base.

Can food and accommodation be deducted from it? No. The law requires the sponsor to provide accommodation, food and medical care in addition to the wage. These are separate obligations, not part of the wage used for the calculation.

Does driver gratuity Qatar work the same way? Yes, provided the driver is employed by a private household. A driver employed by a company falls under the Labour Law and is calculated on basic salary instead.

Do part years count? Yes, in proportion, once you have passed twelve months. On QAR 1,800, each extra month is worth QAR 105.

Is there a maximum gratuity for domestic workers? No. Qatar sets no cap, for domestic workers or company employees.

Does resigning reduce the gratuity? The three-week entitlement is a statutory minimum tied to completed service. Where a settlement is being reduced, ask on what basis in writing.

What if my sponsor refuses to pay? Request a written breakdown, gather your certified contract and wage records, and file a complaint through the Ministry of Labour’s official channels. Do this before leaving Qatar.

Is gratuity taxable in Qatar? No.

Last updated: October 2026 Based on: Qatar Law No. 15 of 2017 on Domestic Workers · Qatar Labour Law No. 14 of 2004, Articles 54 and 57

Written by Farhan — About

Employed by a company rather than a household? See our breakdowns for QAR 5,000 and QAR 10,000, or use the Qatar Gratuity Calculator for your exact figure.