Saudi Labor Law for Expats: What Applies to You After the 2025 Amendments

Who the Labor Law covers

The Labor Law applies to employment relationships in the Saudi private sector, for Saudi and non-Saudi workers alike. Article 7 excludes five categories:

• the employer's own family (spouse, ascendants and descendants), where the establishment employs only them
• players and coaches of sports clubs and federations
• domestic workers and those treated as such
• agricultural workers, private shepherds and those treated as such
• non-Saudis who come to Saudi Arabia to complete a specific task lasting no more than two months

Some of these categories are covered by their own special regulations instead. If you are an engineer, technician, supervisor or office professional employed by a company, the Labor Law applies to you.

Your employment contract

• Written and fixed-term. A non-Saudi's contract must be in writing and for a fixed term. If it states no term, it lasts one year from the date you actually started work, and it renews for a similar year if you keep working (Article 37). A non-Saudi's contract stays fixed-term however many times it is renewed (Implementing Regulations, Article 12).
• Documented. The contract is made in two copies and documented as the regulations require, which in practice means Qiwa (Article 51). It follows the unified model contract (Article 52).
• Arabic prevails. Where the Arabic and English versions differ, the Arabic text controls (Article 9).
• You cannot sign away statutory rights. Any term that conflicts with the Labor Law is void. A waiver or settlement of your rights made while the contract is running is also void, unless it is more favorable to you (Article 8).

More detail: Employment Contracts for Expats in Saudi Arabia.

Probation

Probation applies only if your contract expressly provides for it and states its length. The total cannot exceed 180 days (Article 53). If you are terminated during a valid probation, no compensation or end-of-service award is due (Article 54). See Probation Period in Saudi Arabia.

Salary and working hours

• Your employer is bound by the agreed wage (Article 52). It may not withhold your wages, or any part of them, without a court order (Article 61(1)). Deductions are allowed only in the cases the law permits (Article 92).
• The standard limit is 8 actual working hours a day or 48 a week. During Ramadan, the limit for Muslim workers is 6 hours a day or 36 a week (Article 98).
• Overtime is paid at your hourly wage plus 50% of your basic wage (Article 107). Since 2025, your employer may give you paid leave instead of overtime pay, but only with your consent. See Overtime Pay and Working Hours.

Leave

• Annual leave: at least 21 days of paid leave a year, rising to 30 days after five consecutive years with the same employer (Article 109).
• Sick leave: full pay for the first 30 days, 75% for the next 60, and unpaid for the following 30, within one year (Article 117).
• Special leave for marriage, a death in the family and the birth of a child is set out in Article 113.
• Maternity leave is 12 weeks at full pay (Article 151).

See Annual Leave and Sick Leave.

Costs your employer must bear

The employer bears the fees for your iqama and work permit and for their renewal. It also bears any late-payment fines that it causes (Article 40(1)).

When the employment relationship ends, the employer generally pays your return ticket home. There are two exceptions: if you are found unfit for work, or if you choose to return home without a legitimate reason, the cost falls on you (Article 40(2)).

If your employer deducts iqama or work permit fees from your salary, that deduction can be challenged.

Ending your employment

• Resignation. The 2025 amendments added a formal resignation procedure for fixed-term contracts (Article 79 bis):
  • If the employer does not respond within 30 days of submission, the resignation is treated as accepted.
  • If the work requires it, the employer may postpone acceptance for up to 60 days, counted from a reasoned written notice given before day 30.
  • You may withdraw your resignation within 7 days, unless it has already been accepted. A resignation cannot name a deferred date.

See Resignation Rules After 2025.

• Notice. For indefinite contracts with monthly pay, the employee must give at least 30 days' written notice and the employer at least 60 days (Article 75).
• Termination without a legitimate reason. Unless the contract sets its own amount, compensation is 15 days' wage per year of service for an indefinite contract, or the wage for the rest of the term for a fixed-term contract. In either case it is never less than two months' wage (Article 77).
• Exceptions. Article 80 lists the only cases in which an employer may dismiss without notice or award. Article 81 lists the cases in which you may leave without notice. If your situation falls within one of them and you can prove it, you keep all your statutory rights.

End-of-service award

The award is half a month's wage for each of the first five years of service, and one month's wage for each year after that. It is calculated on your last wage (Article 84).

If you resign, the award is reduced according to your length of service (Article 85):

• less than 2 years: nothing
• 2 years up to and including 5 years: one-third of the award
• more than 5 and less than 10 years: two-thirds
• 10 years or more: the full award

Example: An engineer has worked 6 years, and his last monthly wage is SAR 12,000.

• Full award: (5 × 6,000) + (1 × 12,000) = SAR 42,000.
• If he resigns, he receives two-thirds: SAR 28,000.
• If the employer ends his contract for a reason not listed in Article 80, he receives the full SAR 42,000.

See End of Service Calculation and our end-of-service claims page.

"Huroob": the disconnected-from-work stage

According to the rules announced in July 2025, when an employer reports a worker as absent, Qiwa first marks the worker as "disconnected from work". The worker then has a period, announced as 60 days, to:

• transfer to another employer
• leave the Kingdom, or
• sign a new contract with the same employer.

Only if none of these happens does the status become "absent from work". Check the current conditions on Qiwa, as they may change. See Huroob (Absent From Work).

If something goes wrong

A labor dispute starts with amicable settlement at the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development (MHRSD). If no settlement is reached, the case is referred to the labor courts under the Ministry of Justice.

The deadline matters. A claim based on the Labor Law or the employment contract is not admissible if it is filed more than 12 months after the employment relationship ends (Article 234(a)). There are two exceptions: an excuse the court accepts, or the other side's acknowledgment of the right.

See How to File a Labor Complaint.