Vacation and holiday Saudi laws

Vacation and holiday Saudi laws

Work-life balance is one the most critical factors for increasing productivity and maintaining an active work environment, achieving the best results and keeping the spirit of competition and creativity. Vacations are one of the main factors that significantly improve employee performance.

Studies have shown that taking time away from work can have physical and mental health benefits.

When you take time away from the stresses of work and daily life, it can improve job performance. A vacation can help you feel refreshed and more prepared to handle whatever comes when you return.

Vacations have advantages for both the employee and company, such as: allowing rotating employees in various positions and to do the work of their colleagues who are on vacation, and this, of course, leads to discovering mistakes and correcting them and seizing opportunities for development and improvement.

Leaves are a right of the employee, and when the company offers additional leaves as a kind of incentive or reward. It is also an advantage. We must mention here that the company will be fined 10,000 riyals saudi if it does not adhere to the vacations mentioned in the Saudi law.

Leave types:

1- Annual leave.

2- Holidays and official occasions.

3- Special leaves: death, marriage and newborn. 

4- Hajj Leave.

5- Examination leave.

6- Sick leave.

7- Participation in sports and cultural events leave.

8- dialysis patients leave.

9- Unpaid leave.

1- Annual leave:

According to Saudi work low (109), the minimum annual leave balance according to the worker’s period of service with the employer is as follows: 

– Employees with less than five years of service in the same company, the employee receives 21 days of annual leave.

– Employees with more than five years of service in the same company will receive thirty days of annual leave. The annual leave shall be with a comprehensive wage (actual wage: the basic salary with all allowances), and nothing may be excluded from these allowances in the leave wage. The annual leave wage shall be paid in advance.

The date of the annual leave must be in the year of its entitlement, and no cash allowance may be obtained for a holiday during the working period. The employee-manager has the right to arrange and schedule vacation dates for his employees according to work needs, and he must inform the employee of the scheduled leave date not less than thirty days before its start.

Among the common mistakes, the basic salary is paid only or with the housing allowance without other compensation as specified in Article 109 of the Saudi Labor Law, or the leave balance is not calculated during the leave period itself, and these are all common mistakes.

2- holidays and official occasions:

–      Eid al-Fitr holiday is four working days, starting from the day following the 29th of Ramadan, according to the Umm Al-Qura calendar.

–      Eid al-Adha holiday is four working days, starting from the day of standing in Arafah.

–      The founding day holiday is one day on February 22 of each year.

–      The Saudi National Day holiday is one day, September 23.

Noting that these days are working days, and when they coincide with any leave, the employee shall be compensated for the equivalent of the period of overlap; Except for overlapping the founding day and the National Day leave with one of the two Eid holidays, in which case the employee is not compensated.

3- Special leaves: 

– Marriage Employees who are getting married are entitled to five days of paid leave.

– Paternity Leave: A male worker is entitled to three days of paid leave after the delivery of his newborn baby.

– The death leave: In the case of the death of a first-degree or second-degree relative, an employee is granted five days of paid leave.

– Wife’s death is five days of paid leave.

– The death of the husband of a Muslim female worker (Iddah) is 130 days.

– The death of the husband of a non-Muslim female worker is 15 days.

– Maternity leave 70 days of paid leave (distributed by the woman as she likes, with a maximum of 28 days before the expected delivery date according to a medical report + the remaining 42 days from the date of birth).

It should be noted that the death of the brother, sister, uncle, aunt, and mother/father-in-law does not include them because they are not first-degree relatives. Still, it is advised for the company to add the death leave of the brother and sister (at least three days) even if it is not mentioned in the law.

4- Hajj leave :

– This leave is granted for not more than fifteen days or less than ten days, including the Eid Al Adha holidays. 

– This leave should only be granted once during the entire service period if the employee has not performed Hajj before. 

– To be eligible for this leave, the worker must have spent at least two consecutive years of service with the employer.

– The company has the right to choose who is entitled to Hajj leave in a way that ensures the progress of work.

– The employee must obtain a Hajj permit from the official authorities.

5- Exam leave

– Exams should be for an academic educational body, not a training one, (general education, university and postgraduate studies).

– The leave period is only the day of the exam, and it is paid.

– The employee must be notified and approved to join an educational body. If he does not obtain approval, the leave is taken either from his annual leave balance or unpaid leave.

6- Sick leave:

– 1 – 30 continuous or intermittent fully paid days.

– 31 – 90 days paid at only 75%.

– 91 – 120 days without pay.

Note that the above periods are calculated within one year of the first sick leave; When this period is exceeded, The company has the right to terminate the contract.

7- Participation in sports and cultural events leave:

– 30 days for activities inside the Kingdom.

– 60 days for activities outside the Kingdom.

This is considered unpaid leave. In this case, the company’s role is only to support the employee and approve his participation. The employee can request the support of event sponsors to pay for participation costs.

(This leave is a decision of the Council of Ministers and is not mentioned in the Labor Law)

8- dialysis patients leave:

Kidney patients need weekly dialysis sessions, and to support the costs of this day are paid by the Human Resources Development Fund. No amount is deducted from the employee, nor is it considered sick leave.

(This leave is not mentioned in the labor law but is one of the (HADAF) initiatives.

9- Unpaid leave:

The company can give the employee unpaid leave if it is less than 20 continuous or sporadic days within a year, and the service is considered constant. Still, if it exceeds 20 days, the contract is considered suspended and depends on the type of contract:

–Fixed-term contract: The duration of the leave is longer than the duration of the contract, and the contract is extended by the equivalent of the vacation days.

–Open contract: the period of unpaid leave is excluded from the worker’s service period and is not counted in the end-of-service indemnities.

The Saudi labor law ensures a balance between the employee’s private life and his work by providing such leaves on different occasions to guarantee all parties’ rights.

For more info visit Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development website