This guide explains Qatar labour law sick leave in plain terms. For private-sector workers covered by Labour Law No. 14 of 2004, the English text on Al Meezan, Qatar’s official legal portal, is the starting point. Gulf Expat Tools (Shekh Firoj, Qatar) publishes planning tools around that text. Employer records still control the final figure.
This article states only what those articles say. It does not invent a daily-rate formula the law does not print. Use a daily rate from confirmed payroll. If payroll, contract and leave ledger disagree, the dispute is a document dispute.
Plan the numbers with the Qatar maternity, sick and leave pay planner. If the same exit also involves end-of-service and unserved notice, keep those on the Qatar gratuity calculator and the Qatar notice period pay calculator.
Annual leave, and why unused days become money
Article 79 says a worker who has completed a continuous whole year is entitled to annual leave with the remuneration in Article 72. The leave shall not be less than three weeks for under five years’ service, and four weeks for five years or more, plus leave for fractions of the year in proportion to service.
Article 80 says the employer sets the leave date according to work requirements, and may divide it with the worker’s consent into not more than two periods.
Article 81 is the planning article. The worker may not waive the right to annual leave. Any agreement to the contrary is void. If the employment contract ended, for any reason, before taking such leave, the worker shall be entitled to a cash alternative equivalent to his payment for the due leave days.
The cash alternative is tied to contract end, to due leave days, and to payment for those days. Al Meezan does not, in that article, print a divisor such as 30 or 365. Enter the daily rate your payslips actually use, then multiply by the due days on the leave ledger.
Unused-leave planning while you are still employed is different from encashment at exit. Article 81 forbids waiving the leave. It does not, in those sentences, create a monthly cash-out while the contract continues.
Sick leave is a stepped wage, not unlimited paid absence
Article 82 says the worker shall be entitled to sick leave with pay for each year of service. Sick leave shall not be granted unless after the expiry of three months from the date of commencement of work for the first time, provided the worker proves sickness by a medical report issued by the competent physician approved by the employer.
The same article then sets the pay steps:
full remuneration if the sick leave did not exceed two weeks
half of the remuneration for another four weeks if the sick leave extends thereafter
without remuneration after that, until the worker resumes work, resigns, or service is terminated for health reasons
Service may be terminated at the end of the twelfth week of sick leave if a licensed physician’s report proves the worker cannot resume work. If the worker resigns by reason of sickness, with that approval, before the end of the six weeks of sick leave with pay, the employer shall pay the balance of those entitlements. The same applies in the event of death by reason of sickness before the end of those six weeks.
Article 82 states that these provisions shall not prejudice end-of-service gratuity, and that the relevant sick leave shall not be deemed an interruption of continuous service.
Maternity leave, complementary days, and nursing time
Article 96 says a female worker who has spent a whole year in service with the employer shall be entitled to maternity leave with full remuneration for a period of fifty days, including the prenatal and postnatal periods, provided the postnatal period is not less than thirty-five days. The leave is granted upon a medical report issued by a licensed physician stating the expected date of delivery.
If the remaining period after delivery is less than thirty days, the female worker may be granted a complementary leave from her annual leave. Otherwise the complementary period is leave without pay.
If her health after delivery does not allow a return after that leave, she is deemed to be on unpaid leave, provided the absence does not exceed sixty consecutive or interrupted days, with a licensed physician’s certificate.
Receipt of delivery leave shall not prejudice other leave. A nursing female worker is also entitled to one hour daily for nursing for one year after maternity leave, counted as working hours with no reduction in remuneration.
The employer may not terminate a female worker’s contract by reason of marriage or of receiving the leave in Article 96.
How to turn the articles into a number without inventing one
| Leave type | Statutory trigger on Al Meezan | Pay the law describes | What you still have to take from payroll |
|---|---|---|---|
| Annual leave | One continuous year; three or four weeks by service; pro-rata for a fraction of a year | Remuneration in Article 72 | Confirmed wage and leave year |
| Unused leave at exit | Contract ended before leave was taken | Cash alternative for due leave days | Due days times payroll daily rate |
| Sick leave | After three months, with the required medical report | Full pay two weeks, half pay four weeks, then unpaid | Which days sit in which step |
| Maternity leave | One year of service, physician’s report | Fifty days full pay; postnatal period not less than 35 days | Dates, and any complementary annual or unpaid days |
Example: Lina has a confirmed monthly payroll figure of QAR 12,000 and a leave ledger that shows 10 annual-leave days still due when her contract ends. Article 81 gives her a cash alternative for those days. She enters the daily rate her payslips already use into the leave-pay planner, then checks the same figure against HR. If she is also owed gratuity and unserved notice, she runs those on their own tools.
Keep medical reports, the expected-delivery certificate, the leave application and the payroll file. Coverage is a scope question: this article does not tell government employees or workers outside Law 14/2004 that the same articles automatically apply.
FAQs
Does unused annual leave have to be paid when I leave?
Article 81 says that if the contract ended for any reason before the leave was taken, the worker is entitled to a cash alternative equivalent to payment for the due leave days.
How is sick leave paid?
After three months’ service and the required medical report, Article 82 provides full pay for up to two weeks, then half pay for four weeks, then unpaid leave. Service may be ended at the twelfth week if a licensed physician reports the worker cannot resume work.
How long is statutory maternity leave?
Article 96 provides fifty days at full remuneration after one year of service, including prenatal and postnatal periods, with a postnatal period of not less than thirty-five days.
What daily rate should I use?
Use a daily rate from confirmed payroll. Article 81 speaks of a cash alternative equivalent to payment for due leave days. It does not print a divisor. If contract, payslip and HR system disagree, the employer record is what you audit.
Do maternity or sick leave cancel gratuity?
Article 82 states that its sick-leave provisions shall not prejudice end-of-service gratuity. Article 96 states that receipt of delivery leave shall not prejudice other leave. Calculate gratuity on its own article with the gratuity calculator.
Where is the official legal text?
On Al Meezan, Law No. 14 of 2004: https://www.almeezan.qa/LawView.aspx?language=en&LawID=3961 Arabic prevails if translations differ.
Sources
Reviewed 31 August 2026.
Al Meezan, Law No. 14 of 2004 on the promulgation of Labour Law: https://www.almeezan.qa/LawView.aspx?language=en&LawID=3961
Al Meezan, Article 79 (annual leave): https://www.almeezan.qa/LawArticles.aspx?language=en&LawArticleID=51873&LawID=3961
Al Meezan, Labour Law leave and holiday articles including 81 and 82: https://www.almeezan.qa/LawArticles.aspx?LawTreeSectionID=12648&lawId=3961&language=en
Al Meezan, Article 96 (maternity leave): https://www.almeezan.qa/LawArticles.aspx?LawTreeSectionID=12652&lawId=3961&language=en
Gulf Expat Tools, Qatar maternity, sick and leave pay planner: https://gulfexpattools.com/qatar-maternity-sick-leave-pay-planner/
Gulf Expat Tools, Qatar gratuity calculator: https://gulfexpattools.com/qatar-gratuity-calculator/
Gulf Expat Tools, Qatar notice period pay calculator: https://gulfexpattools.com/qatar-notice-period-calculator/