Quick answer: Kuwait's indemnity is 15 days' wage per year for the first five years and one month's wage per later year, capped at 18 months: 10 years on 1,000 KWD gives 5 × 15 × (1,000 ÷ 26) + 5 × 1,000 = 7,884.615 KWD.
How it's calculated
Article 51(b) gives monthly-paid workers 15 days' wage for each of the first five years and one month's wage for each year after that, with parts of a year in proportion. The total cannot exceed one and a half years' wage. The law uses the last wage, which it defines as the basic wage plus the elements set in the contract or the employer's rules, so enter fixed allowances too.
The law states the award in days and months but sets no divisor for a day's wage. You can choose monthly wage ÷ 26 working days, the common practice in Kuwait and the default here, or ÷ 30 calendar days, which gives a lower amount for the first five years; the later full-month years are the same either way. Service runs from your first to your last working day, both counted, as years + months ÷ 12 + days ÷ 365.
Article 52 gives the full award when the employer ends the contract, a fixed-term contract expires, the worker leaves under Articles 48 to 50, or a woman resigns within a year of marrying. Article 53 reduces it when a worker resigns from an open-ended contract: nothing under 3 years, half from 3 years, two thirds from 5 years and the full award from 10 years (completed years).
Writing the amount in words? Use Kuwaiti dinar tafqit.
Worked examples
- 10 years, wage 1,000 KWD, contract ended by employer: 5 × 15 × 38.462 + 5 × 1,000 = 7,884.615 KWD
- 4 years, wage 1,000 KWD, resigned: 4 × 15 × 38.462 × ½ = 1,153.846 KWD
- 30 years, wage 1,000 KWD: 2,884.615 + 25,000 → capped at 18 × 1,000 = 18,000 KWD
Indemnity on resignation in Kuwait (open-ended contract)
- Under 3 years: no indemnity.
- 3 to under 5 years: half.
- 5 to under 10 years: two thirds.
- 10 years or more: the full indemnity.
Frequently asked questions
How is end of service calculated in Kuwait?
For monthly-paid workers: 15 days' wage per year for the first five years and one month's wage per year after that, capped at one and a half years' wage, under Article 51 of Law No. 6 of 2010.
Do I get indemnity if I resign in Kuwait?
From an open-ended contract, only after 3 years: half from 3 years, two thirds from 5 years and the full amount from 10 years (Article 53).
Are allowances included?
Yes. The law calculates the indemnity on the last wage, and wage includes the elements set in the contract or the employer's rules, not just basic pay.
Do Kuwaiti citizens get the full indemnity?
Yes. Law 85 of 2017 (applied back to 2010 by Law 17 of 2018) stopped employers deducting their social-insurance contributions from the indemnity.
Should the daily wage be ÷ 26 or ÷ 30?
The law does not say. Monthly wage ÷ 26 working days is the common practice in Kuwait and the default here; some employers and calculators use ÷ 30. Choose either above to compare: on 1,000 KWD, 15 days' wage is 576.923 KWD with ÷ 26 and 500 KWD with ÷ 30.
Is there a maximum indemnity in Kuwait?
Yes. The total cannot exceed one and a half years' wage (18 months), however long you worked.