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Bahrain indemnity calculator
Work out your end-of-service indemnity under Bahraini labour law: half a month’s wage for each of your first three years, then a full month for every year after. Since 1 March 2024 two parties pay it — your employer for service before that date, SIO for service after — and this calculator tells you how much each owes you.
This is Bahrain. The rules here are Resolution 109/2023 and Article 116 of Labour Law 36/2012. If you worked in the UAE, your gratuity is 21 days’ pay per year for the first five years and 30 days after, under Federal Decree-Law 33 of 2021 — a different calculation, and this tool will give you the wrong number. The same is true of Saudi, Kuwait, Qatar and Oman.
How much indemnity will you get?
Free, no sign-up, and nothing you type is sent anywhere — the arithmetic runs in your browser.
Who pays your indemnity — your employer or SIO?
Both, if you were employed on either side of 1 March 2024. That is the date Resolution 109/2023 took effect, and it splits your service into two claims with two different payers. Miss one and you leave money behind.
Your employer
Service before 1 March 2024
You claim it from the company directly. Article 14 leaves this period under Labour Law 36/2012.
2024
SIO
Service from 1 March 2024
You claim it from the Social Insurance Organisation, which your employer has been paying contributions to.
Do not claim both halves from the same place. Each party is responsible for its own period, and neither will tell you about the other one. If you started before March 2024, the employer half is yours to ask for.
How is end-of-service indemnity calculated in Bahrain?
Two rates, by length of service, on your final wage:
| Years of service | You are entitled to | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Each of the first 3 years | Half a month’s wage per year | Article 9 · Article 116 |
| Every year after the third | One full month’s wage per year | Article 9 · Article 116 |
| Part of a year | The same rate, pro rata the days served | Article 9 |
Worked example
A basic wage of 380 BHD, a social allowance of 0, and 6 years of service:
(380 ÷ 2 × 3) + (380 × 3) = 1,710.000 BHD
Three years at half a month, then three at a full month. The calculator above splits that total between your employer and SIO by date.
It is calculated on your last wage, not the wage you earned at the time. Articles 10 and 116 both specify the final remuneration, so a raise in your last year raises the whole entitlement, including the early years.
What counts as your wage?
This is the most common error, and it runs in both directions — people use their full package and get a figure far too high, or use take-home pay and get one too low.
Counts
- Basic salary
- Social allowance
Does not count
- Housing allowance
- Transport or car allowance
- Phone allowance
- Overtime, bonuses and commission
Article 1 of the regulation defines the wage as the contract amount plus increases and social allowance. SIO’s own guidance says the same and excludes all other allowances and benefits.
Is there a minimum service period?
No. Neither instrument contains one. Article 9 grants entitlement to fractions of a year in proportion to service, Article 116 says the same, and Article 2 applies the regulation “whatever the duration, nature or form of the contract”.
Eight months of service earns eight twelfths of half a month’s wage. If you have been told you get nothing under a year, that is wrong.
Does resigning reduce what you are owed?
No. Article 116 draws no distinction by reason for leaving — resignation, non-renewal and dismissal all earn the same entitlement. The only forfeiture is the gross-misconduct case in Article 107.
Can SIO pay you less than the calculator says?
Yes — and this is the part almost nobody is told.
Article 10: the benefit is calculated on your last remuneration and not exceeding the amount of the contributions paid on your behalf. The formula is a ceiling, not a guarantee. If your employer under-contributed or did not contribute at all, SIO pays what it received — not what the formula produces.
So the figure that matters is not only the one this calculator gives you. Check what has actually been paid in, in your account on the SIO portal, and enter it in the optional field above — the tool will tell you whether the cap bites. Where contributions fall short, the difference is a claim against your employer, not against SIO.
| Period of service | Employer contribution rate | Source |
|---|---|---|
| First 3 years | 4.2% of wage | Article 5 |
| After 3 years | 8.4% of wage | Article 5 |
| Already past 3 years on 1 March 2024 | 8.4% from the start | Article 13 |
The contributions are the employer’s alone — nothing is deducted from you.
How long does payment take, and what does it cost?
| Which half | When | Fee |
|---|---|---|
| The SIO half | Within 5 working days of submitting the application | None |
| The employer half | No statutory period — practice varies by company | None |
The five working days is SIO’s own published service standard, not a custom. If it passes, you have something specific to point at.
What if your employer will not pay?
Take it to the Expat Protection Centre at the Labour Market Regulatory Authority (LMRA), in Northern Sehla. That is the route SIO itself names for a delayed payment or short contributions — not the Ministry of Labour.
Who is not covered by this?
| Who | Position | Source |
|---|---|---|
| GCC nationals | Excepted — covered instead by the unified GCC insurance regulation, Law 68/2006 | Article 3 |
| Bahraini nationals | Outside this regulation, which applies to non-Bahrainis. Article 116 covers workers not subject to the Social Insurance Law, and Bahrainis are covered by the pension scheme | Article 116 |
The calculator above is built for expatriate service in Bahrain, and it does not offer a Bahraini path. That is deliberate: the figure circulating for Bahrainis has no source in either instrument, and a confident wrong answer about someone’s entitlement is worse than no answer.
What does not break your service?
Moving within the same employer
A transfer to another branch or enterprise of the same employer is not an end of service. Your service continues and so does the accrual.
Article 6The business changing hands
If ownership transfers, contributions carry on and your service is not broken.
Article 7Having moved between companies
Entitlement earned with a previous employer survives the move. It does not vanish because you changed jobs.
SIO guidanceDeath in service
The benefit is paid to the beneficiaries according to the inheritance system of the deceased’s home country.
Article 11Unpaid leave is the exception that does reduce it: Article 8 covers the duration of actual service for which contributions were paid, so unpaid days come off before the calculation. The tool has a field for them.
Common questions
I worked in Dubai — can I use this?
No. This is Bahraini law. UAE gratuity is 21 days’ pay per year for the first five years and 30 days after, under Federal Decree-Law 33 of 2021, and there is no employer/SIO split. A UAE calculator will give you the right number; this one will not.
Is “indemnity” the same as “gratuity”?
Yes. Indemnity is the word used in Bahrain, gratuity is the more common term elsewhere in the Gulf, and the regulation itself says end-of-service benefits. They all mean the payment you receive when your employment ends.
Do I need to apply, or is it automatic?
The SIO half is applied for, and paid within five working days of the application, at no charge. The employer half you ask the company for directly.
What if I do not know my contributions?
They are in your account on the SIO portal. You can use the calculator without them — leave the field at zero and it simply will not check the Article 10 cap for you.
Does the calculator store anything I type?
No. It runs entirely in your browser and nothing is sent anywhere. There is an optional save button that keeps a result in your own account if you are signed in, and that is the only thing that leaves the page.
Is this legal advice?
No. It is a calculator for working out where you stand. SIO, the LMRA and your contract are the authorities, and the figures here are stated with their article numbers so you can check them.
This is an estimating tool, not legal advice and not a statement of what you will be paid. The Social Insurance Organisation, the LMRA and your own contract are the authorities.
