Saudi Employment Center: Contracts, Leave, and Ending Employment
From signing the contract and the probation period, through working hours and leave, to ending employment in its various forms — this center brings together every stage of your employment lifecycle under Saudi labor law, with a direct link to the right calculator for each stage.
Guide steps
Before signing any job offer, know your actual net salary after the social insurance deduction.
Understand exactly how much is deducted from your salary monthly and how much the employer pays on top for you.
Track your accrued and remaining annual leave balance and its cash value throughout your employment.
Worked extra hours? Calculate the correct pay under Article 107 (150% of the base hourly wage).
Before submitting your resignation or receiving a termination notice, know exactly the date of your last official working day.
The final stop: calculate your expected gratuity based on the reason and length of your employment.
The start of the relationship: the contract and probation period
The employment contract must be written and officially documented via the Qiwa platform, and must include mandatory basic terms: the names of both parties, wage and allowances, contract duration, working hours, and the agreed notice period. The probation period — if any — must be explicitly stated, must not exceed a total of 180 days, and may not be repeated for the same worker with the same employer in the same job except in specific cases (such as moving to a different profession, or after a break of 6 months or more from the previous relationship). If the contract ends during the probation period, neither party is entitled to compensation, and the worker is not entitled to an end-of-service gratuity for that period.
During employment: hours, rest, and leave
The maximum working hours are 8 hours a day or 48 hours a week, reduced to 6 hours a day during Ramadan for Muslim workers. A worker may not be made to work more than 5 consecutive hours without a rest period of at least 30 minutes, and is entitled to a paid weekly rest of no less than one full day (usually Friday, which can be swapped by agreement). Any working hour beyond this limit is counted as overtime at a pay rate of at least 150% of the regular hourly wage.
Alongside annual leave (21 to 30 days depending on years of service) and maternity leave (12 weeks), an employee is entitled to other fully-paid leaves such as Hajj leave (once during employment) and family-occasion leaves (death, marriage) for durations set by law.
The end of the relationship: types of employment termination
An employment contract ends in several ways, each with radically different effects on the end-of-service gratuity: expiry of the agreed term (in fixed-term contracts), resignation (Article 75, with a notice period and a gradual gratuity reduction before 10 years of service), termination by the employer for project completion (with the statutory notice, and full gratuity), disciplinary dismissal under Article 80 (for specific reasons such as forgery or serious misconduct, which forfeits the gratuity entirely), and arbitrary dismissal (termination without an accepted legal reason, which doesn't forfeit the gratuity but adds compensation that may be decided by the labor court.
Regardless of the reason for termination, an employee is always entitled to: their remaining wage for actual days worked, and compensation for their unused annual leave balance — both entirely independent of the end-of-service gratuity itself.
Quick tips
- Review your contract's terms (especially the notice period and probation period) before signing, not after — many disputes stem from a clause that wasn't read carefully.
- Calculate the effect of your resignation timing on the end-of-service gratuity before submitting your letter — the difference between completing one more year can mean thousands of riyals.
- Document all official communication (notices, resignation, warnings) in writing via the Qiwa platform to avoid any later dispute over dates.
- The end-of-service gratuity, unused leave balance, and remaining wage are three separate entitlements — claim all of them when any employment relationship ends.
Frequently asked questions
What is the maximum probation period under Saudi labor law?
180 days maximum (after the latest amendments), and it must be explicitly stated in the contract. The probation period may not be repeated for the same worker with the same employer in the same job, except in specific cases (such as moving to a different job, or after a break of 6 months or more from the previous relationship).
Is an employee entitled to an end-of-service gratuity if the contract ends during probation?
No, if the contract ends during the probation period neither party is entitled to compensation, and the worker isn't entitled to an end-of-service gratuity for that specific period, though it does count toward total length of service if the contract continues afterward.
What is the maximum number of working hours allowed per day?
8 hours a day or 48 hours a week maximum, reduced to 6 hours a day during Ramadan for Muslim workers. A worker may not be made to work more than 5 consecutive hours without a rest period of at least 30 minutes.
What's the difference between arbitrary dismissal and dismissal under Article 80?
Dismissal under Article 80 is a legitimate termination for reasons specifically set by law (such as forgery or serious misconduct at work), and it forfeits the end-of-service gratuity entitlement entirely. Arbitrary dismissal is termination without an accepted legal reason, and doesn't forfeit the gratuity — the worker may also be entitled to additional compensation decided by the labor court (equal to two months' pay or 15 days per year of service, depending on the contract type) on top of the full end-of-service gratuity.
Can the weekly rest day be switched from Friday to another day?
Yes, with the worker's consent, the employer may switch the official weekly rest day (Friday) to another day of the week, as long as the principle of one paid rest day every six working days is maintained.