The 2025 Saudi Labor Law amendments: what changed and what did not
Saudi Arabia amended its Labor Law by Royal Decree No. M/44 of 8/2/1446H, as law firm summaries and the ILO's NATLEX database give it. They report that the amendments came into force in February 2025, 180 days after publication in the Official Gazette. The sources differ by a few days on the exact date (18, 19 or 25 February), so this guide says February 2025. It sorts what could be confirmed on Ministry pages from what only secondary summaries report, and it says which of the figures in the calculators the amendments touch.
What was read and what was not
The Labor Law file on the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development site that this site reads is the 2005 English translation, without the amendments. The Council of Ministers law portal (laws.boe.gov.sa), where amended articles are shown, did not respond in this check. The Ministry's Awareness Guide on the Rights and Duties of Employers and Workers, published in December 2025, does describe the law as it stands after the amendments, and it is the official source used here for the points below. Anything that comes only from law firm and software vendor summaries is marked as such.
What the Ministry guide confirms
- Maternity leave is 12 weeks: 6 weeks that the woman can place before or after the birth, and 6 weeks mandatory after the birth.
- Paternity leave is 3 days, and leave for the death of a brother or sister is 3 days.
- The probation period may not exceed 180 days. It may be divided into consecutive periods if the contract says so at signing. Either side may end the contract in probation without compensation, and the worker has no end-of-service award if it ends then.
- Overtime can be compensated with paid leave if the worker agrees: at least one and a half hours of leave for each overtime hour, used within 60 days unless the parties agree otherwise, and not more than 30 days a year.
- The contract of a non-Saudi worker must be written and for a fixed term. If it does not state a duration, it is deemed to be one year from the start of work, and it renews for a similar period if both sides carry on after it ends.
- Overtime is paid at the hourly wage plus 50% of the basic hourly wage, and hours worked on official holidays are overtime.
What only secondary summaries report
Law firm and vendor summaries of the decree add a definition of resignation to Article 2, referring to a fixed-term contract, and a new resignation procedure in Article 79 bis. One summary describes it this way: a resignation request is treated as accepted if the employer does not reply within 30 days, the employer can postpone acceptance by up to 60 days with a written reason given before the 30 days end, and the worker can withdraw within 7 days unless the employer has already accepted. The same summaries list bankruptcy as a lawful ground for termination, a longer period for objecting to a disciplinary action, a change to the notice period for indefinite contracts and a number of other changes to the articles on contracts, work permits and recruitment. None of this was read in an amended text, and no figure on this site depends on it. Treat the details as unconfirmed.
What did not change for the calculators
The end-of-service scale in Article 84, the resignation shares in Article 85 and the exceptions in Article 87 are repeated in the Ministry's December 2025 guide in the same terms as the 2005 text: half a month for each of the first 5 years, one month for each year after, one third from 2 years, two thirds above 5 years, the full award from 10 years. A secondary summary also lists Articles 84 to 88 as not amended. On a wage of SAR 10,000, 7 years pays SAR 45,000 on dismissal and SAR 30,000 on resignation.
Annual leave stays at 21 days, rising to 30 days after 5 consecutive years with the employer. The guide adds that a worker who leaves without using the leave is paid for the accrued days and for the part of the year worked, which is what Article 111 says. A worker may not exchange leave for cash while in service.
Overtime after the amendments
The cash rule in Article 107(1), the hourly wage plus 50% of the basic wage, is unchanged in the guide, and its worked example divides the wage by 30 and by 8. What is new is the option of compensatory leave in place of cash. The overtime calculator shows the cash figure only. If your employer gives leave instead, the figure is a comparison and not an amount owed.
How to read your own case
For a payroll figure that matters, ask the employer for the working and check it against the Ministry's Labor Law page, the Ministry's own end-of-service calculator that the guide links, or the Ministry's complaint channel. Where a date or article in this guide is marked unconfirmed, the Arabic text in the Official Gazette and on the law portal governs.
End-of-service award calculatorSources
- Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development: Awareness guide on the rights and duties of employers and workers (December 2025)
- Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development: Labor Law, Royal Decree No. M/51 (English translation, 2005 text)
- Council of Ministers law portal (did not respond in this check)
- Every rule used, with its source and check date: Sources and rates
This calculator is general information only. It follows the Saudi Labor Law (Royal Decree No. M/51) as listed on the Sources page, and your contract, payroll and personal situation may differ. Rules as at 2 November 2026.