Project your DEWS pot from employer contributions and growth.
Projected DEWS pot
—
Monthly contribution
—
Total contributed
—
Investment growth
—
DEWS swapped a promise for a portfolio
When the DIFC introduced the DIFC Employee Workplace Savings plan in February 2020, it changed the nature of the end-of-service benefit for employees in the Centre. Old-style gratuity is a defined promise: a fixed number of days of pay per year, paid as a lump sum when you leave, with the employer carrying the obligation on its books. DEWS is a funded, invested plan. Your employer pays a mandatory monthly core contribution into an account that is actually invested in the market, overseen within the DIFC framework and its regulator, the DFSA. The consequence is simple but easy to miss: your final pot is not a guaranteed figure. It depends on the return the investments earn, which is exactly why this projection asks you for an expected return.
The employer core contribution is set as a percentage of basic salary, and it steps up with tenure. As the tool models it, that is roughly 5.83 percent a month for service under five years and roughly 8.33 percent for five years or more. You can also layer voluntary contributions on top, and many employees do, because the plan gives them a low-friction, professionally managed way to save while in the UAE.
A 10-year pot, traced contribution by growth
Take the defaults: a monthly basic of AED 20,000, ten years of service, a 6 percent expected annual return, and no voluntary top-up. Because the entered tenure is ten years, the tool uses the higher core rate it applies of about 8.33 percent, giving a monthly employer contribution of AED 1,666. It then compounds that monthly contribution at 6 percent a year over the full ten years, adding each contribution at the end of its month.
| Component | Amount |
|---|
The chart shows how much of that AED 273,023 pot is your employer’s cash and how much is compounding doing the work.
One simplification to keep in mind
The projection picks a single core rate based on the tenure you enter and holds it flat across the whole period. Real DEWS contributions pay the lower rate of about 5.83 percent for the first five years of service and the higher rate of about 8.33 percent only from year six. So if you are modelling someone who has just crossed the five-year mark, the early years of this projection are slightly generous, because they apply the higher rate to a stretch that, in reality, earned the lower one. For long-tenure employees the effect is small; for a recent crosser it is worth a mental haircut. The contribution rates and the return are assumptions: confirm the current DEWS core rates and your plan’s fund options with your DIFC employer and the plan administrator rather than treating these figures as fixed. There is also no personal income tax on this benefit when you draw it, which is one less drag on the final number.
DEWS questions worth answering
Is my DEWS pot guaranteed, or can it fall?
It can fall. Unlike old gratuity, which is a fixed entitlement, DEWS money is invested, so the balance moves with markets. Most plans offer a range of risk options, from capital-preservation funds to growth portfolios. If you are close to leaving the UAE, a more conservative option reduces the chance of a market dip shrinking your pot right before you withdraw. The 6 percent in this tool is an assumption, not a promise.
Do voluntary contributions earn the same return as the core?
Yes, they are invested in the same plan and grow at the same rate you select, which is why adding even a modest voluntary amount compounds meaningfully over a long stay. In this tool a voluntary top-up is simply added to the monthly core before compounding, so you can test how an extra AED 1,000 or AED 2,000 a month changes the final figure.