This is how Saudi Arabia's employer rules affect you (and it's good news)
The rules are put in place to safeguard workers’ rights
Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development has reiterated that the Labour Law protects all workers and their rights to full rest and reasonable working hours. These are the Saudi Arabian employer rules and how they affect you.
Employers are now forbidden from compensating the weekly day off with money, according to Gulf News; employees are also no longer allowed to be at the workplace for longer than 12 hours a day.
According to the Saudi Arabian employer rules, workers are also not meant to work for longer than five consecutive hours without a break of at least 30 minutes for rest, prayer, or meals. Moreover, all workers must be given a weekly rest day, a complete 24 hours, preferably on Fridays. Employers may, however, under certain circumstances, notify the Labour Office and assign an alternative day off to some employees.
These regulations by the ministry are put in place to promote a healthy work–life balance and ensure humane working conditions across all sectors.
Saudi Arabia is also planning to launch a retirement and savings plan for employees
Recent reports suggest that Saudi Arabia is planning to launch a new pension and savings plan for all employees, according to the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) latest Article IV consultation report. This is everything we know about the Saudi retirement and savings plan for employees. With the new program, the Kingdom aims to decrease the outflow of workers’ remittances abroad. The public pension and savings program is expected to be unveiled soon. The forthcoming Saudi retirement and savings plan for employees was described as a new step towards improving household savings and reducing external remittances.
Saudi Arabia’s new salary clause
The new Saudi salary clause will be added to a notarised employment contract and aims to document workers’ rights and obligations to prevent injustices and reduce the volume of disputes in courts. It will come into circulation by way of the technological link between the Qiwa and Najiz platforms.
According to the new clause, if an employee doesn’t receive their full salary within 30 days of the due date, or if they receive it partially after 90 days, they can submit an electronic implementation request through the Najiz platform. The employer then reserves the right to object within five days of the notification date.
