SAUDI ARABIA Law and Practice Contributed by: Dana Halwani and Leanne Farsi, Derayah LLPC
Labour Reforms In February 2025, certain amendments in rela - tion to the Labour Regulation and its Implement - ing Rules took effect. These amendments have included the following changes: • maternity leave has been extended to 12 weeks; • the introduction of the right to three days of paternity leave, which is to be taken within seven days of the child’s birth; • the maximum probationary period may now be stated to be 180 days in the work contract outright (removing the need for extensions of the previous 90-day probationary period under the Labour Regulation to be by written agreement); and • in lieu of salary for overtime, with the worker’s consent, the worker can be granted compen - satory paid leave. 4.2 Characteristics of Employment Contracts The online platform Qiwa provides a standard employment agreement which companies can use to contract with their employees. These online templates are amendable to a certain extent. The Implementing Rules of the Labour Regulation also set out a standard employment contract, certain provisions of which are man - datory. A written employment contract must be executed, but the provisions of the Labour Regulation apply if the employer fails to do so. Employment contracts with non-Saudis must be on a fixed-term basis, but Saudi employees can be employed on fixed-term contracts or indefinite-term contracts. If a fixed-term con - tract expires and the parties continue the rela - tionship, it becomes an indefinite-term contract for Saudi employees. If a fixed-term contract contains a renewal provision, it can be renewed
twice for less than four years and remains a fixed-term contract. If the contract is renewed three times or the employment period exceeds four years, the contract becomes indefinite for Saudi employees. Accordingly, a Saudi national who has been employed by the same employer for more than four years or whose contract has been renewed three times will automatically be employed on an indefinite-term basis. 4.3 Working Time As a general rule, working hours are eight hours per day for six days per week, with a total of 48 hours per week. During Ramadan, working hours for Muslims are reduced to six hours per day for six days per week, with a total of 36 hours per week. Article 99 of the Labour Regu - lation provides that statutory working hours may be increased to nine hours per day or decreased to seven hours per day for certain work cate - gories. According to Article 101 of the Labour Regulation, workers may not work continuously for more than five hours at a time, with breaks for meals, rest and prayers of not less than half an hour at a time. Breaks are not counted as working hours, but workers may not remain at the workplace for more than 11 hours per day. Article 106 of the Labour Regulation provides that the maximum actual working hours may be increased to up to ten hours per day or up to 60 hours per week without a day of rest in cer - tain circumstances, including “if the worker is intended to face extraordinary work pressure”. In such situations, overtime is payable at 150% of the employee’s base wage. The circumstances brought about by the COV - ID-19 pandemic resulted in reductions in the working hours of many employees. In light of this and other changes to contractual relation - ships caused by the pandemic, the HRSD issued
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