Saudi Labour Law 2026: Employee Rights, Qiwa & End-of-Service Award

Millions of expatriates work in Saudi Arabia under a labour framework that changed substantially in 2025. If your knowledge of Saudi employment rights still dates from the pre-2025 Labour Law, you are likely operating on rules that no longer apply: probation limits, notice periods, resignation procedures, maternity leave and overtime rules were all reshaped by a major amendment package approved in August 2024 and effective from 18 February 2025.

This guide explains Saudi Labour Law as it stands in 2026: the legal basis and what the amendments changed, working hours and overtime, the end-of-service award (with a worked calculation), annual and sick leave, probation, notice periods, maternity and paternity rights, and the Qiwa platform — the digital system where your employment contract now officially lives. Every rule is tied to the law's article numbers so you can verify it yourself, and the common traps that cost expats money are flagged along the way.

If you work in the UAE rather than Saudi Arabia, the systems are cousins but not twins: see our complete UAE Labour Law 2026 guide for the MOHRE framework side of the Gulf.

The Legal Basis — and the 2025 Amendments That Rewrote Parts of It

Saudi employment is governed by the Saudi Labour Law (Labour Law of 2005), issued by Royal Decree No. M/51 dated 23/8/1426H (27 September 2005). For two decades it set the familiar rules — 48-hour weeks, the half-month-per-year gratuity formula, 90-day probation — and it remains the governing law today.

What changed was a sweeping amendment package. On 6 August 2024 the Council of Ministers approved amendments to a large number of articles, announced by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development (MHRSD): 38 articles amended, 7 articles deleted, 2 new articles added. The amendments became effective 180 days after publication in the official Gazette — 18 February 2025.

The most important changes for employees, effective since that date:

• New definitions (Article 2): the law now formally defines "resignation" — a written, uncoerced disclosure of the wish to unconditionally terminate a fixed-term contract, with the employer's acceptance — closing years of ambiguity about what counts as a resignation.
• Non-Saudi contracts (Article 37): indefinite-term contracts for non-Saudis are deemed one-year fixed-term contracts from the start of employment, renewed for the same period. The old linkage to work-permit expiry is gone.
• Probation: the parties may now agree to 180 days from the outset (previously 90 days, extendable to 180 only by a later written consent). Both parties have an equal right to terminate during probation, and leave periods are excluded from the probation duration.
• Notice (Article 75): standardised at 30 days for the worker and 60 days for the employer to terminate an indefinite-term contract for a valid reason.
• Resignation procedure (Article 79): a new formal procedure — the employer is deemed to accept the resignation if it does not respond within 30 days; it may delay acceptance by up to 60 days with written reasons; the worker may withdraw the resignation within 7 days if it has not yet been accepted; future-dated resignations are not allowed.
• Overtime (Article 107): employer and worker may now agree on compensatory paid leave in lieu of overtime pay.
• Paternity leave (Article 113): 3 days, to be taken within 7 days of childbirth. Sibling bereavement (Article 113): a new 3 days' paid leave on the death of a sibling.
• Maternity leave (Article 151): extended to 12 weeks of paid leave.
• Equal opportunities: employers must ensure no discrimination on grounds of race, colour, sex, age, disability, marital status or other forms.
• Disciplinary appeals (Article 72): a worker now has 30 days to internally appeal a disciplinary sanction; the employer must decide within 15 days or the worker may go to the Labour Court within 30 days.

One clarification worth making early: you may come across social-media posts or press-release-style pages claiming Saudi labour law "changed again in February 2026". The amendment package described above — approved August 2024, effective 18 February 2025 — is the one corroborated by the Ministry, the Saudi Gazette, Al Tamimi and other reputable outlets. No new 2026 amendment round is verified. Treat any "2026 change" claim that cites no official source with caution.

Working Hours and Overtime

The standard limits are set by Article 98: a maximum of 8 hours per day or 48 hours per week. During Ramadan, working hours for Muslim workers are reduced to 6 hours per day or 36 hours per week. Article 99 allows hours to be raised to 9 per day for certain job categories where work is not continuous, or reduced to 7 per day for hazardous industries, by ministerial decision.

Overtime — hours worked beyond the 8-per-day or 48-per-week limits — is paid under Article 107. Time worked on public holidays and Eids counts as overtime. The employer pays the worker's hourly wage plus 50% of the basic wage for each overtime hour — effectively 150% of the hourly rate. Since the amendments, the employer and worker may alternatively agree on compensatory paid leave instead of overtime pay; the Executive Regulations spell out the details of that option.

A practical note: if a salary statement or HR explainer shows a lower overtime multiplier (some secondary sources quote 125%), the law text and the MHRSD's own knowledge centre state the wage plus 50% formula — that is the statutory wording to rely on in any dispute.

Contrast this with the UAE, where overtime is capped at 2 hours per day and paid at 125% of the basic wage (150% on rest days and holidays) — see our UAE overtime calculation guide for the comparison in detail.

The End-of-Service Award (Mukafaat Nihayat Al-Khidma)

The end-of-service award is the largest single sum most expats receive on leaving a Saudi job, and it is also the most miscalculated. The rules sit in Articles 84 to 88 of the Labour Law.

The formula (Article 84). When the work relationship ends, the employer pays an award calculated on the worker's last wage: a half-month wage for each of the first five years of service, and a full one-month wage for each year after that. Portions of a year are counted pro rata — a half-year counts as half of the relevant rate.

What "wage" means here is crucial. For the end-of-service calculation, "wage" is the worker's actual wage — basic pay plus fixed allowances. This is broader than the UAE gratuity base, which uses basic salary only (see our UAE gratuity after resignation guide). The single most common calculation error — in both countries — is the employer running the numbers on basic pay alone and underpaying. Article 86 does allow the parties to agree that variable components such as commissions and sales percentages are excluded from the base.

Worked example. Take a worker whose last wage is SAR 10,000 per month, with 7 years of service, whose contract is terminated by the employer (not a resignation):

• First 5 years: 5 × (SAR 10,000 ÷ 2) = SAR 25,000
• Years 6 and 7: 2 × SAR 10,000 = SAR 20,000
• Total end-of-service award: SAR 45,000

The same arithmetic, run on basic salary only (say SAR 7,000 basic with SAR 3,000 in allowances), would produce SAR 31,500 — short-changing the worker by SAR 13,500. Always check which wage figure your HR used.

Resignation Reduces the Award — The Article 85 Table

Here is the rule that surprises most resigning employees: resigning is treated differently from being terminated for end-of-service purposes. Under Article 85, a worker who resigns receives a reduced award depending on length of service:

Length of service at resignation	End-of-service entitlement
Less than 2 years	Nothing — no award
2 to 5 years	One-third of the full award
More than 5, less than 10 years	Two-thirds of the full award
10 years or more	Full award

Return to the worked example: our 7-year employee terminated by the employer receives the full SAR 45,000. If that same employee resigns after 7 years, the award is cut to two-thirds — SAR 30,000. Crossing the 5- and 10-year boundaries materially changes the payout, which is why the timing of a resignation decision is a financial decision.

Two exceptions restore the full award (Article 87): a worker who leaves because of force majeure beyond his control gets the full award, and a female worker gets the full award if she ends her contract within 6 months of marriage or within 3 months of giving birth.

There is one way to get nothing at all: no award is payable if you are terminated under Article 80 — the serious-misconduct dismissal provision (theft, assault, gross negligence and similar grounds).

Payment deadline (Article 88): the employer must settle all dues within one week of the end of the contract relationship — or within two weeks if it was the worker who ended the contract.

One more accrual trap: unpaid leave in excess of 20 days means the contract is deemed suspended under Article 116 and the Implementing Regulations, with "all legal effects suspended accordingly, unless otherwise agreed by the parties". In practice, extended unpaid-leave periods do not count as service time — so a months-long unpaid break can quietly reduce both your service length and your award. Get any unpaid-leave arrangement documented in writing, and clarify its effect on service time.

Annual Leave

Article 109 sets the minimum: prepaid annual leave of not less than 21 days, rising to not less than 30 days once the worker has completed five consecutive years with the employer. The leave must be taken in the year it falls due. The employer fixes the dates, with at least 30 days' notice to the worker, and may postpone leave by up to 90 days for work conditions (Article 110). Any leave that is due but untaken when the employment ends must be paid out in cash on exit (Article 111).

For UAE-based readers: the UAE minimum is a flat 30 days from the first year, with carry-forward capped at half — see our UAE annual leave rules guide. Saudi Arabia's 21/30-day step-up at five years is the distinctive feature here.

Probation

Probation must be stated in the contract to exist (Article 53). The maximum is 90 days, extendable by written agreement between worker and employer to 180 days in total. Eid Al-Fitr, Eid Al-Adha holidays and sick leaves are excluded from the probation count. Either party may terminate during probation — unless the contract reserves that right to only one of them. No probation period may be imposed more than once with the same employer (Article 54), except when the work or profession is different, or at least 6 months have passed since the previous relationship ended.

Since the amendments (effective 18 February 2025), the parties may agree to 180 days of probation from the outset, without needing the old two-step 90-plus-written-extension route. Either way, a contract ended during probation means no compensation and no end-of-service award.

If you are comparing probation practice across the Gulf, our UAE probation period rules 2026 covers the UAE's parallel framework.

Notice Period and Resignation Rules

For indefinite-term contracts, the post-amendment rule (Article 75) is standardised: the employer must give 60 days' notice to terminate for a valid reason, and the worker must give 30 days' notice. If the notice period is not observed, compensation equal to the wage for the notice period is payable (Article 76).

Two qualifications matter:

• These 30/60-day figures apply to indefinite-term contracts. For fixed-term contracts — including the deemed one-year fixed-term form that applies to non-Saudi workers (Article 37) — termination follows the contract's own terms and the Article 74 grounds, not the 30/60-day notice regime.
• The new resignation procedure (Article 79) adds formal steps: submit the resignation in writing; the employer is deemed to accept it if there is no response within 30 days; the employer may delay acceptance by up to 60 days, but only with written reasons relating to work interests; and the worker may withdraw the resignation within 7 days if it has not yet been accepted. Future-dated resignations are not permitted. The employment ends on acceptance, 30 days after submission if the employer stays silent, or at the end of the justified delay.

Compare the UAE, where notice is a flat 30 days minimum for both sides on resignation — covered in our UAE notice period rules 2026.

Maternity, Paternity, Sick and Bereavement Leave

Maternity leave was one of the headline improvements of the amendment package. Under amended Article 151, a female worker is entitled to 12 weeks of paid maternity leave, with at least 6 weeks mandatory after childbirth. The leave may not begin earlier than 4 weeks before the expected delivery date.

Paternity leave (Article 113): a new father gets 3 days of paid leave, which must be taken within 7 days of the child's birth.

Sick leave (Article 117) follows a graduated scale per single year (counted from the first sick leave, for a proven illness): the first 30 days at full pay, the next 60 days at three-quarters of the wage, and a further 30 days unpaid — whether the leave is continuous or intermittent.

Bereavement leave (Article 113): the amendments added 3 days of paid leave on the death of a sibling — previously the entitlement covered only ascendants and descendants.

Leave Entitlements at a Glance

Leave type	Entitlement	Key condition
Annual leave	21 days; 30 days after 5 consecutive years	Prepaid; must be taken in the year due; employer gives 30 days' notice of dates
Maternity leave	12 weeks paid	At least 6 weeks after childbirth; cannot start earlier than 4 weeks before expected delivery
Paternity leave	3 days paid	Must be taken within 7 days of childbirth
Sick leave	30 days full pay / 60 days at ¾ pay / 30 days unpaid	Proven illness; year counted from first sick leave
Bereavement (sibling)	3 days paid	New under the 2025 amendments
Probation	Max 90 days, extendable to 180 (or 180 agreed from the outset)	Must be in the contract; either party may terminate

Qiwa: Where Your Contract Actually Lives

Qiwa (qiwa.sa) is the unified digital labour-market platform of the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development. It digitises employment contracts, work permits, labour mobility, establishment compliance and Nitaqat (Saudization) administration in a single ecosystem. For employees, its most important function is this: Qiwa is the Ministry's approved platform for documenting and approving employment contracts for Saudi nationals and expatriates alike. Once your contract is documented on Qiwa, it is the legally binding contract in the eyes of the ministry, and the data syncs to GOSI (social insurance).

What this means for you in practice:

• You can see your own contract. Register for an Individual Account on Qiwa (access via Nafath SSO) and go to Services → Employment Contracts to view your current contracts and to accept or reject new contract offers. Contract offers on Qiwa are also the mechanism for sponsorship/employee transfers between employers.
• Changes need both sides. Modifying a documented contract requires the approval of both the employer and the worker — your employer cannot quietly rewrite your terms.
• Disputes are not settled on Qiwa. The platform states that contractual disputes are outside its jurisdiction; resolution goes through the MHRSD's amicable settlement service or the Labour Court. Note also that paper documents are not accepted or validated on Qiwa — the digital contract is the one that counts.

The UAE's equivalent is the MOHRE digital contract system. The practical habit is the same in both countries: check the contract the government sees, not the paper copy your recruiter showed you — the registered version is what governs your rights.

2026 Updates: What Is Actually New

Two enforcement developments were reported in September 2026 and are worth knowing about:

• Nitaqat contract-counting rule. Qiwa finalised the mechanism for counting Saudi employees under Nitaqat: to be counted as one Saudi employee, an employee's contracts in the preceding 52 weeks must not exceed 5; the registered salary must be at least SAR 4,000; the worker must not be part-time or a student; a worker may hold at most 2 simultaneous contracts; and no new contract may be entered if the employee has entered more than 7 contracts in 365 days. This is aimed at phantom-employment practices.
• Absent-employee transfers. Employees marked "absent" (absence report, work interruption or terminated contract) may now transfer to another employer via Qiwa after 12+ months in the Kingdom; the new employer covers outstanding work-permit fees. Related conditions: no Qiwa contracts for government employees until Masar clearance, and work permits require the entity not to have been in the red zone for 8 consecutive weeks.

And to repeat the earlier caution: no new round of labour-law amendments in 2026 has been verified. The governing framework remains the Labour Law of 2005 as amended effective 18 February 2025. If you read otherwise from an unsourced post, ask for the official Gazette reference.

Common Mistakes Expats Make

1. Calculating the end-of-service award on basic salary. Saudi law uses actual wage (basic plus fixed allowances). This is the single most common underpayment error.
2. Confusing resignation with termination. Resigning before the 5- or 10-year mark cuts your award to one-third or two-thirds. If the employer is ending the relationship, the full award applies.
3. Resigning verbally. "Resignation" now has a statutory definition — written, uncoerced, accepted. A verbal "I'm leaving" followed by absence can be recorded as something else entirely.
4. Ignoring the resignation response window. No response within 30 days means deemed acceptance — useful if your employer stalls, but also means a submitted resignation you regret is live unless withdrawn within 7 days of submission (before acceptance).
5. Assuming the 30-day notice applies to your fixed-term contract. The 30/60-day regime covers indefinite-term contracts. Non-Saudi workers on the deemed one-year fixed-term form follow contract terms and Article 74 instead.
6. Never checking Qiwa. If your contract on Qiwa differs from your paper copy, the Qiwa version is the one the ministry enforces. Verify it through your Individual Account.
7. Taking extended unpaid leave without understanding the 20-day rule. Beyond 20 days the contract is deemed suspended — service accrual pauses, which can shrink your end-of-service award and your five-year annual-leave step-up.
8. Missing the paternity-leave window. The 3 days must be taken within 7 days of childbirth — they cannot be banked for later.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Saudi end-of-service award calculation?

Half a month's wage for each of the first five years of service, plus a full month's wage for each year after that, calculated on your last actual wage (basic salary plus fixed allowances). Parts of a year count pro rata. Example: SAR 10,000/month × 7 years of service = SAR 25,000 (first five years) + SAR 20,000 (years six and seven) = SAR 45,000.

How much end-of-service award do I get if I resign?

Under Article 85: less than 2 years — nothing; 2 to 5 years — one-third; more than 5 but less than 10 years — two-thirds; 10 years or more — the full award. A female worker who ends her contract within 6 months of marriage or 3 months of giving birth receives the full award (Article 87).

What are the working hours in Saudi Arabia?

8 hours per day or 48 hours per week (Article 98). During Ramadan, Muslim workers' hours drop to 6 hours per day or 36 hours per week. Overtime is paid at the hourly wage plus 50% of the basic wage — effectively 150% — or taken as agreed compensatory paid leave (Article 107).

How long is the probation period in Saudi Arabia?

A maximum of 90 days, extendable by written agreement to 180 days total — and since February 2025 the parties may agree to 180 days from the outset. It must be stated in the contract, and either party may terminate during it. No probation twice with the same employer (Article 53–54).

What is the notice period for resignation in Saudi Arabia?

For indefinite-term contracts: 30 days' notice from the worker, 60 days' notice from the employer (Article 75). Resignations follow the Article 79 procedure — deemed acceptance after 30 days of employer silence, possible 60-day justified delay, and a 7-day withdrawal window before acceptance.

How many annual leave days do employees get in Saudi Arabia?

A minimum of 21 prepaid days per year, rising to 30 days after five consecutive years with the same employer (Article 109). Leave must be taken in the year due; untaken leave is paid out on exit (Article 111).

How long is maternity leave in Saudi Arabia?

12 weeks of paid maternity leave (Article 151, as amended in 2025). At least 6 weeks are mandatory after childbirth, and the leave cannot begin earlier than 4 weeks before the expected delivery date. Paternity leave is 3 days, to be taken within 7 days of the child's birth (Article 113).

Can my employer change my contract on Qiwa without my knowledge?

No. Changes to a documented Qiwa contract require the approval of both the employer and the worker. You can view and accept or reject contract changes through your Qiwa Individual Account (accessed via Nafath).

Where do I complain about a labour dispute in Saudi Arabia?

Disputes are not handled on the Qiwa platform itself. They go through the MHRSD's amicable settlement service first, and then to the Labour Court if not resolved. Keep your Qiwa contract records as evidence.

Did Saudi labour law change again in 2026?

No — at least, no new 2026 amendment round has been verified by any official source. The current framework is the Labour Law of 2005 as amended effective 18 February 2025 (Council of Ministers approval 6 August 2024). September 2026 did bring Nitaqat enforcement and absent-employee transfer updates via Qiwa, but those are enforcement measures, not new legislation.

The Bottom Line

Saudi labour law rewards workers who know the mechanics: the end-of-service award is generous but punishes early resignation, probation and notice rules shifted under the 2025 amendments, and Qiwa makes your registered contract — not your paper copy — the legal truth. Check the contract the government sees, calculate your award on actual wage, and treat any "new 2026 law change" headline as unverified until it cites the official Gazette.

Sources

• Saudi Labour Law — Royal Decree No. M/51 (23/8/1426H): Al Tamimi & Company analysis of the amendments (tamimi.com)
• Council of Ministers decision approving amendments (6 August 2024): Saudi Gazette
• MHRSD knowledge centre — working hours and overtime (Article 107): Saudi MOHRSD official page
• Saudi Labour Law consolidated text — Articles 84–88 (end-of-service), 109–117 (leave), 53–54 (probation), 75–79 (termination/resignation)
• Qiwa platform — Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development (qiwa.sa)
• Nitaqat contract-counting rule and absent-employee transfer updates: Saudi Gazette, September 2026

Related Guides

UAE Labour Law 2026: Complete Guide to Employee Rights · UAE Notice Period Rules 2026 · UAE Probation Period Rules 2026 · UAE Overtime Pay 2026: How to Calculate It · WPS Salary Delay: Your Rights in the UAE