Annual Leave, Sick Leave and Special Leave Under Saudi Labor Law

Annual leave

• How much: at least 21 days of paid leave a year. After five consecutive years with the same employer, this rises to at least 30 days (Article 109).
• Paid in advance: you receive your leave pay before you go on leave (Article 109).
• No cash instead of leave while employed: during the contract, you cannot give up your leave or be paid cash in place of it (Article 109).
• Notice of dates: the employer may set leave dates around work needs, but must tell you at least 30 days in advance (Article 109).

Postponing annual leave (Article 110)

Leave can be postponed in two ways:

• At your request. You may carry all or part of your leave into the next year if the employer agrees.
• By the employer, for work reasons. The employer may postpone your leave for up to 90 days after the end of the year in which you earned it. Any longer postponement needs your written consent, and it cannot go beyond the end of the following year.

Unused leave when you leave the company

When your employment ends, you must be paid for any leave you earned but did not take. This includes a proportional amount for a part year (Article 111). The payment is in addition to your end-of-service award, not part of it.

The payment is based on your actual wage (Articles 2 and 111). That means your basic wage plus the components that legally form part of your wage. Reimbursement of expenses you actually paid is not wage.

For a fixed monthly wage, the formula is:

monthly actual wage ÷ 30 × days of leave owed

Example: A process engineer resigns with 40 days of unused leave. His monthly actual wage is SAR 15,000.

• Daily wage: 15,000 ÷ 30 = SAR 500
• Leave owed: 40 × 500 = SAR 20,000

This is paid on top of his end-of-service award. See End of Service After Resignation.

Sick leave

If your illness is proven, you are entitled within one year to (Article 117):

The days count whether they are continuous or spread out. The year starts on the date of your first sick leave, not on 1 January (Article 117).

Example: A welder earns SAR 10,000 a month and takes 45 days of sick leave within one year.

• First 30 days at full pay: SAR 10,000
• Next 15 days at 75%: 15 × (333.33 × 75%) = SAR 3,750
• Total for the 45 days: SAR 13,750

Proof of illness. Sick leave must be supported by a certificate from the establishment's doctor or an accredited medical provider. Electronic sick leaves can be verified through the Seha platform.

Protection from dismissal. Your employer cannot terminate you because of illness before you have used up the sick leave periods the law gives you (Article 82).

Special leave (Article 113)

You are entitled to paid leave at full wage for:

The employer may ask for supporting documents.

Other leave

• Maternity leave: 12 weeks at full pay (Article 151, as amended in 2025).
• Hajj leave: 10 to 15 days at full pay, once during your service. You must have completed at least two consecutive years with the employer and not have performed Hajj before (Article 114).
• Iddah leave (Article 160):
  • A Muslim working woman whose husband dies is entitled to iddah leave at full pay of at least four months and ten days from the death.
  • If she is pregnant, the leave may be extended until delivery, but the extension is unpaid.
  • A non-Muslim woman is entitled to 15 days at full pay.

Official holidays

You are entitled to paid days off on the official holidays (Article 112; Implementing Regulations, Article 24):

How overlaps work:

• If a holiday falls on your weekly rest day, you get a compensating day off.
• If a holiday falls during your annual leave, your annual leave is extended by that number of days.
• If National Day or Founding Day falls within an Eid holiday, you get no extra day.

Do not work elsewhere while on leave

If you work for another employer while on leave, your employer may withhold your leave pay or recover it (Article 118).