Saudi Labour Law 2026: the key rules for employers

5 November 2026 · 6 min read

The rules HR teams apply every month, with the article number and what changed in the amendments that took effect in February 2025.

Working time

Rule	What the law says	Article
Normal hours	Up to 8 hours a day or 48 a week	98
Ramadan (Muslim employees)	Up to 6 hours a day or 36 a week	98
Weekly rest	Friday, paid, at least 24 hours in a row; can be moved for some workers after notifying the Labour Office	104
Overtime	Hourly wage plus 50% of the basic wage; holidays and Eids count as overtime. Since 2025 the parties can agree on paid time off instead.	107

Leave	Entitlement	Article
Annual	21 days a year; 30 days after 5 consecutive years. Unused leave is paid when employment ends.	109, 111
Sick	Within one year, continuous or not: 30 days full pay, then 60 days at 75%, then 30 days unpaid	117
Maternity	12 weeks at full pay (10 weeks before 2025); 6 weeks must be taken after the birth	151
Paternity	3 days at full pay, taken within 7 days of the birth	113
Marriage	5 days at full pay	113
Bereavement	5 days for a spouse, ascendant or descendant (for example a parent, grandparent, child or grandchild); 3 days for a brother or sister (new in 2025)	113
Hajj	10 to 15 days including the Eid al-Adha holiday, once, after 2 consecutive years of service	114
Exams	Paid for exam days in a year the student is not repeating; request at least 15 days ahead	115

Rule	What the law says	Article
Probation	Must be stated in the contract and cannot exceed 180 days in total (changed in 2025)	53
Notice (open-ended contracts, monthly paid)	At least 30 days from the employee and at least 60 days from the employer (changed in 2025)	75
Resignation	For fixed-term contracts: treated as accepted if the employer does not reply within 30 days; the employer can postpone acceptance by up to 60 days if business needs require it, with written reasons; the employee can withdraw within 7 days if not yet accepted (new in 2025)	79 bis
End-of-service award	Half a month's wage for each of the first 5 years, a month's wage for each year after; reduced on resignation	84, 85

Syncstead applies leave, overtime, GOSI and end-of-service rules in payroll, in Arabic and English.