How to Resign in Qatar: Notice, Gratuity and Final Pay

To resign in Qatar after probation, give your employer written notice: 1 month in your first and second year of work, and 2 months after the second year (Labour Law No. 14 of 2004, Art. 49, as amended in 2020). The law lets either side end the contract without giving reasons, as long as the notice is given.

Resigning does not cut your end of service gratuity. After one full year of service you are paid at least three weeks of your last basic wage for each year (Art. 54).

Write your letter with the resignation letter generator, or compare the six Gulf countries.

If the notice is not given, the side that ended the contract owes the other compensation equal to the worker's basic wage for the notice period (Art. 49). An expatriate who leaves Qatar without keeping to the notice rules cannot be given a work permit for one year (Art. 49).

Fixed-term contracts. A fixed-term contract can run for at most 5 years, and one that carries on after its end date without being renewed becomes open-ended (Art. 40). If you want to leave a fixed-term contract before its end date, check your contract and the cases in Article 51 below. Article 49's notice rule, as amended in 2020, is not limited to open-ended contracts; Article 51 lists when you can leave without notice.

Probation lasts at most 6 months and can be used once (Art. 39).

Pay in lieu of notice is your basic wage for the notice period.

Qatar has no resignation reduction. A worker with a full year or more of service is paid at least three weeks of the last basic wage for each year of service, with part years paid pro rata. The employer may deduct money you owe it (Art. 54).

Example at QAR 8,000 a month basic (21 days of basic wage for each year), whole years of service:

With under one full year of service there is no gratuity. The figure is the same if your employer ends the contract. Use the Qatar gratuity calculator for your own dates and salary.

Gratuity is lost on summary dismissal for one of the grounds in Article 61. One of them is staying away from work without a legitimate reason for more than 7 days in a row or 15 days in total within a year. Do not use absence as a way to resign.

On an open-ended contract, you can end the contract without notice, and keep your full gratuity, in these cases (Art. 51):

• Your employer breaches its obligations.
• You are assaulted, or an immoral act is committed against you.
• Your employer used fraud when hiring you.
• There is a serious danger at work.
• A final decision of a Labour Dispute Settlement Committee is in your favour.

On a fixed-term contract the same article lets you end it before its term ends in these cases. Read Article 51 for the exact conditions before you rely on it.

Ask the Ministry of Labour when your final pay is due. If you are not paid what you are owed, the dispute route is:

• Labour Relations Department of the Ministry: it tries to settle within 7 days (Art. 115 bis).
• Labour Dispute Settlement Committee: if there is no settlement, the department refers the dispute within the next 3 working days. The committee decides individual disputes within 3 weeks of its first hearing.
• Appeal to the Court of Appeal within 15 days of the committee's decision.
• Deadline: claims lapse 1 year after the contract ends, and filing with the Ministry pauses that clock. Worker claims are free of court fees (Arts. 10 and 115 bis).
• What to attach: the Ministry's labour complaint form asks for a copy of your employment contract (in Arabic) and a copy of your ID card.

More: the complete Qatar guide.

State your name and job title, the date, one sentence saying you resign, and your last working day under your notice period. You do not need to give a reason (Art. 49). Sign it. The Qatar resignation letter generator writes one for you. Keep a signed copy.

Before your last day, ask for a written breakdown of your gratuity, leave and wages, and check it with the settlement checker.