Do Public Holidays Count Toward UAE Leave Encashment?
October 23, 2026
UAE public holidays (such as National Day or Eid holidays) are a separate category from annual leave entitlement. They don't count as part of the 30-day annual leave balance, and unused or unobserved public holidays aren't part of the leave encashment calculation.
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An employee estimating their leave encashment shouldn't add public holidays into their unused-leave-days count — doing so would overstate the encashment total, since only actual annual leave entitlement (the 30 days, or the pro-rated amount for shorter tenure) is the relevant bucket for this calculation.
What Public Holidays Do Affect
Public holidays are relevant to day-to-day scheduling and whether a holiday falling during a period of annual leave affects the leave count for that specific trip — but that's a scheduling question, separate from the leave encashment total itself.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are public holidays part of annual leave in the UAE?
No — they're a separate category and don't count toward the 30-day annual leave entitlement.
Can unused public holidays be encashed?
No — leave encashment specifically covers unused annual leave days, not public holidays.
Should I include public holidays when estimating my unused leave balance?
No — only count actual annual leave days when estimating leave encashment.
Does a public holiday during my annual leave trip affect anything?
That's a separate scheduling question (whether it extends the trip or counts against the leave balance), distinct from the leave encashment calculation itself.