Workers’ Rights in the Kingdom

Workers' Rights in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia refer to all rights guaranteed by the Kingdom to every citizen or resident who is capable of working. They are stipulated in the Labor Law, which is comprised of 245 articles, ensures workers' rights, safeguards them from exploitation, and regulates the relationship between employees and employers. Article Three of the Labor Law stipulates that work is the right of every citizen. All citizens are equal in the right to work without discrimination on the basis of gender, disability, age, or any other form of discrimination.

In order to develop and improve the efficiency of the workplace environment and protect workers' rights in the Kingdom, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development has launched several programs, including: The Wages Protection Program for private sector workers; Electronic Contract Authentication Program; Labor Education Program; Friendly Settlement of Labor Disputes Program "Wudi"; adoption of the Workers' Rights Insurance Program; the launching of the system of elected Workers Committees; and the Contractual Relationship Improvement Initiative; alongside other programs aimed at developing improving the working environment and protection of the rights of all contractual parties.

An employment contract is defined as a contractual agreement between a worker and an employer, facilitating the completion of a job in exchange for mutually agreed-upon financial remuneration and under specific conditions. These conditions include: the contract being documented in duplicate, with one copy for each party; specification of a fixed term for non-Saudis; and in cases where the duration is unspecified, the work permit aligns with the duration of the contract. Even if not documented in writing, the contract remains valid, and both parties reserve the right to request written documentation at any time.

Under the Labor Law issued in 2005, Article Five stipulates that the provisions of the law applies to any contract whereby a person commits himself to work for an employer and under his management or supervision, for a wage; workers of the government and public organizations and institutions including workers of charitable institutions; qualification and training contracts with workers other than those working for the employer within the limits of the relevant provisions provided for in this Law; and part-time workers with respect to safety, occupational health, and work injuries, as well as decisions issued by the Minister of Human Resources and Social Development.

The Labor Law also prescribed the relationship between workers and the employers in order to preserve the rights and duties of both parties. The foremost right guaranteed by the law to workers is their right to wages, which is the most important right of the worker, as well as the right to specify working hours and rest periods, holidays, end-of-service bonuses, and the right to leave work without notice.

The laws require employers to pay workers' wages in accordance with the agreed dates and in the official currency, through accredited banks. Deductions may not exceed 50 percent of the worker’s wages, except in certain cases determined by the Labor Disputes Committee. Employers must also pay an additional wage for overtime work, equal to the hourly wage plus 50 percent of his basic wage.

The working resident enjoys workers’ rights in the Kingdom, as adopted by the Labor Law. This includes rights such as the entitlement to wages, determination of working hours, annual leave, end-of-service remuneration, access to healthcare, and the right to litigation.

The Kingdom has issued several laws, legislation, and ministerial decisions, along with adopting oversight mechanisms that have significantly improved workers' conditions. These measures include mandating employers in the private sector to provide health insurance to employees. Additionally, the Kingdom has issued numerous ministerial resolutions to bolster the protection of migrant workers as stipulated in the Labor Law. These resolutions entail implementing additional measures to prevent exploitation and uphold their rights and dignity. Notable among these measures is the prohibition of all forms of human trafficking, such as the sale of visas or the collection of fees from workers in exchange for employment or visa issuance. Offenders face a five-year suspension from recruitment, with repeated offenses resulting in permanent suspension. Since 2014, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development has enforced the Council of Ministers' resolution that prohibits employing workers in open areas under direct sunlight from twelve noon to three in the afternoon between mid-June and mid-September. Furthermore, any employer retaining a worker's passport without consent will be subject to a fine of SAR2,000, among other penalties.

In 2020, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development launched an initiative to improve the contractual relationship, in accordance with specific controls that take into account the rights of both parties of the contractual relationship. This includes all expatriate workers in private-sector enterprises. The initiative is part of the National Transformation Program’s initiatives, one of the programs of Saudi Vision 2030.

The initiative to improve the contractual relationship seeks to increase the flexibility, effectiveness, and competitiveness of the labor market and raise its attractiveness in line with international best practices. This initiative seeks to activate the contractual framework within the employment relationship between employers and workers, based on the employment contract between them authenticated via the Contract Authentication Program. By reducing disparities in contractual procedures between Saudi and expatriate workers, it will enhance opportunities for employing citizens in the labor market and attract talent.

The initiative enables job mobility for expatriate workers between private sector establishments, subject to specific controls that consider the rights of both parties in the contractual relationship and the terms outlined in the contract between them. The exit and return service also facilitates expatriate workers in submitting exit and return requests during the validity of their employment contract automatically through the Absher platform. Additionally, it allows them to request final exit either during the validity of the employment contract or after its automatic termination via the Absher platform.

The Kingdom has dedicated its efforts to protecting and ensuring workers' rights through numerous decisions, initiatives, and programs, such as workers' right to rest periods during working hours that the Labor Law stipulates must not exceed eight hours per day or forty-eight hours per week. Other rights encompass the right to annual leave, leave related to family or study conditions, sick leave, and additional leave for working women related to pregnancy, maternity, and family care.

Furthermore, the Labor Law emphasizes the safeguarding of workers' dignity, stipulating that they must be treated with respect. They may not be compelled to work without pay, nor may their wages be withheld or subjected to deductions, as outlined in Article Sixty-One. Additionally, the law grants workers the right to terminate employment without prior notice or consent from employers, while still retaining their full entitlements. This applies in various circumstances, including instances where they, or their family members, are subjected to assault or inappropriate behavior, or when there's a breach of contractual terms, as stated in Article Eighty-One of the Labor Law.

With regard to protecting the rights of minor workers, the Labor Law stipulates in its tenth part that those under the age of fifteen are not allowed to work, with exceptions permitted by the Minister of Human Resources and Social Development. For instance, minors between the ages of thirteen and fifteen may be allowed to engage in light work, provided it does not adversely affect their health or growth, does not interfere with their studies, does not involve hazardous tasks or professions that endanger their safety, and does not exceed six hours of work per day.

It is one of the programs launched by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development to ensure the protection of the right to receive due wages. The program was introduced in phases starting in 2013 and aims to document the payment of wages to male and female workers in private sector establishments for both citizens and expatriates to ensure timely payment of the value of the wages according to employment contracts.

In 2020, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development launched the second version of the Wages Protection System through the "Mudad" platform. The ministry instructed all institutions and establishments obligated to adhere to the Wages Protection Program to register on the Mudad platform. This platform serves as the official operator of the Wages Protection System and registrations commenced in November 2020. This initiative received support from the Ministry of Human Resources, the General Organization for Social Insurance, and the Saudi Central Bank.

In December 2020, the Kingdom also endorsed two conventions of the International Labor Organization, to which it became a member in 1976. These were the Protection of Wages Convention and the Hygiene (Commerce and Offices) Convention.

It is a portal launched by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development to regulate the labor market within the Kingdom. Its goal is to enhance the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development's procedures related to the labor market by improving their quality, increasing awareness, and implementing collaborative systems with relevant labor and recruitment entities across the Kingdom.

The labor education portal aims to raise awareness regarding work-related duties and rights, as well as to disseminate labor laws, ethics, and regulations governing them, and simplify them for workers and employers from different work- and employer-related segments in the Kingdom.

The portal is also responsible for introducing labor laws and regulations, especially concerning contract conclusion and associated rights and duties of the parties. Employment contracts must be drafted in duplicate, with each party receiving one copy, specifying the parties' information, the contract duration, and the mutually agreed wage. Additionally, the portal contains all designations, releases, and actions related to labor, contributing to their introduction and clarifying their conditions and relevant duties. Such matters include daily and weekly rest periods, healthcare, contract renewal, end-of-service remuneration, domestic workers' duties, medical care for pregnancy and childbirth, the duration of maternity leave, and the subsequent rest period.

To bolster support for working women, safeguard their rights, and amplify their presence in the workforce, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development has initiated the unified organization for women's work environment initiative. This encompasses a series of controls, including: ensuring employers provide a secure and stable environment for female employees; enforcing equal pay for men and women performing equivalent work; creating a conducive work environment with designated areas for rest and prayer; and mandating the establishment of childcare facilities in workplaces with over fifty female employees and at least ten children.

The laws emphasize the rights of female workers to fully paid maternity leave for a period of ten weeks to be divided at the female worker’s discretion. Such period may start four weeks prior to the expected date of delivery. In the event of giving birth to a sick child or a child with special needs, she is entitled to an additional leave with full pay. Moreover, dismissal or warning of dismissal of the female worker on the grounds of illness due to pregnancy or childbirth is prohibited. The Labor Law also set out a detailed twelve-article part that addresses women's work.

To ensure the right to work for all its citizens, the Kingdom has initiated the "Tawafuq" employment program for individuals with special needs. This program seeks to provide them with an appropriate working environment and motivate private sector enterprises to hire them by offering comparative advantages under the "Nitaqat" program to enhance the employment of people with special needs.

The Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development launched the "Mustasharak al- Ummali" (Your Labor Consultant) Service on January 18, 2016, which is a free e-service provided by the ministry through the Labor Education Portal to respond to queries regarding labor provisions in the Kingdom. Queries are responded to by qualified legal advisers authorized to respond to such inquiries through the Labor Offices, the ministry’s customer service account on Twitter, via the Labor Education Portal website, or by contacting the ministry.

It is one of the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development’s e-services, through which it seeks to use technology to regulate work, standardize procedures, shorten time, save effort, and adjust operations to reach a high-quality, precise level of service. The system allows filing lawsuits while notifying respondents electronically, in cases of disputes between enterprise owners and an employee.

Labor courts serve as first-instance courts within the public judiciary in the Kingdom, with jurisdiction to adjudicate all types and forms of labor disputes, as prescribed by the Law of Civil Procedures. Decisions made by labor courts can be appealed, except for those issued in proceedings overseen by the Supreme Judicial Council.

Labor courts consist of specialized departments, each comprising one or more judges as designated by the Supreme Judicial Council.

Under Article Thirty-Four of the Law of Civil Procedures, labor courts have the jurisdiction to consider a range of disputes. These include disputes relating to work contracts, wages, rights, work injuries and compensation therefor; disputes arising from termination of employment; lawsuits filed for imposing penalties; disputes relating to employees governed by the provisions of the Labor Law, including workers employed by the government; and disputes arising from the application of the Labor Law and Social Insurance Law.

Labor courts are established across various cities and governorates in the Kingdom. There are about seven labor courts located in Riyadh, Makkah al-Mukarramah, Jeddah, Abha, Dammam, Buraydah, and al-Madinah al-Munawwarah. The Kingdom also has twenty-seven labor departments and nine tripartite labor departments within six appellate courts throughout its provinces.

Labor Courts provide a number of e-services via the "Najiz" digital platform on the Ministry of Justice’s website, including filing applications, implementation of issues and requests for termination, cases’ scheduled dates inquiries, and following up on case progress.

In 2018, the Minister of Justice and Chairman of the Supreme Judicial Council announced the completion of the specialized judicial system for the establishment of labor courts and the exercise of their jurisdiction competence set forth in the Law of Civil Procedures for presiding over labor cases. The system relies on seven labor courts, in addition to twenty-seven labor departments across the Kingdom's cities and governorates, and nine labor departments for appeals in six appellate courts in different provinces of the Kingdom.