Takeaways from the amendments in the Saudi Arabian Labour Law
The Saudi Arabian labour market is about to undergo a significant transformation with the new modifications to the Saudi Labour Law, which will take effect in February of next year.
The amendments were detailed in Royal Decree M/44, published in Umm AI Qura, Saudi Arabia’s official gazette, on 19/02/1446H (August 23, 2024). The legal experts who spoke with Gulf News said the new decree had seven articles deleted, two new articles added, and several articles altered.
The introduction of more employee-friendly clauses aligns with the legislative improvements around the Gulf, as every nation wants to attract and retain its best talent.
Here is an explanation of what precisely these modifications are:
- Extended leave for maternity
The length of maternity leave has been increased from 10 weeks to 12 weeks, giving new moms more time to bond with their babies.
Six weeks of maternity leave can be used after the baby is born. The remaining two weeks can be distributed as the employees see fit, starting four weeks before the anticipated delivery date.
- Siblings’ bereavement leave
Article 113 of the amendments also introduced a new right to three days of paid bereavement leave for a sibling’s death.
- A clearer probationary period
Article 53 does not permit parties to decide on the 180-day probationary period upfront, providing more clarity and flexibility.
The employment contract must still include probation, and cannot be more than 180 days. Instead of 90 days being extended by a separate written agreement between the parties for a future period(s) up to 180 days, the parties will now be able to agree up to 180 days from the beginning. The implementing regulation will provide more details, including vacations that will be excluded from the probation period, including all public holidays, sick leave, and others like bereavement.
- Employment termination
The modifications created a clear definition of employee resignation so that workers could resign before the limited time had passed. The resignation will take effect when the employee accepts it or has passed without an employee response within 30 days of being submitted. Alternatively, the employer can postpone the resignation for a maximum of 60 days. In the case of unlimited-term contracts for Saudi nationals, the notice period for an employee has to be shortened from 60 days to 30 days. The proposed changes to the termination of employment will provide more flexibility for both parties.
- Greater responsibilities for employers
Companies must give adequate housing or cash allowances, and transportation or cash allowances, to their employees.
The Labour Law would impose a duty on employers to abstain from not providing equal opportunities during employment, which includes exclusion or preferences of job candidates based on race, colour, age, marital status, disability, or any other basis. This strengthens the existing right under the labour law, which provides all citizens equal rights to work during hiring, without expressly putting the employer under any responsibility.
- Terms of a foreign national’s contract
Non-Saudi employees must be hired for limited-term contracts. In the current law, the contract doesn’t mention the limited term, the Labour Law states that the limited time will be determined based on the work permit’s expiration. According to the Labour Law modifications, if the contract is silent, the limited term is assumed to be one year from the employee commencement date. This gives more clarity for the expiration date, especially when the work permit and employment dates may diverge.
The Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development will issue new implementing regulations to address the recent changes on or before the amendments come into force.