Saudi Arabia
Employ in Saudi Arabia without an entity.
A contract documented on Qiwa, the work visa and Iqama arranged, and pay in riyals with social insurance handled. One contact and one invoice.
The facts of employing in Saudi Arabia.
Paid in riyals, every month.
Into each employee's account at a Saudi bank.
A 48-hour week.
With Friday the rest day, and 36 hours in Ramadan for Muslim employees.
21 days of annual leave.
And 30 after five years with the same employer.
Health insurance from the start.
Paid by the employer, for employees and their families.
What employing in Saudi Arabia involves, in plain words.
Each is handled for everyone you employ through Global Kinect EOR.
- Contracts
Written, with the Arabic text prevailing, and documented on Qiwa, the labour ministry's platform.
- A non-Saudi national's contract is fixed-term: one year, renewing, where no term is set.
- Trial period: up to 180 days in all, where the contract sets one.
- IqamaVisas and residence
A work visa and work permit are issued through Qiwa, then the Iqama, the residence permit.
- Someone already in the Kingdom can move across by a transfer on Qiwa.
- Work at a client's or project site needs an Ajeer permit.
- NitaqatSaudization
A programme employers plan for. The Saudi share of the workforce sets each company's band, from Platinum to Red.
- The band decides access to work visas, transfers and work permits.
- GOSISocial insurance
Pension, occupational hazards and unemployment cover for Saudi nationals, and occupational hazards cover for expatriates.
- For expatriates, 2% from the employer and nothing from the employee.
- A national of another Gulf country is covered by their own country's scheme, under the Gulf extension of insurance protection.
- Health insurance
Compulsory, and paid by the employer alone, for Saudi and non-Saudi employees and their dependants, trial period included.
- Leave
21 days a year, and 30 after five years with the same employer.
- Sick leave each year: 30 days on full pay, 60 at three quarters, then 30 unpaid.
- Maternity leave: 12 weeks. For a birth from July 2025, GOSI pays three months' maternity compensation in place of the wage.
- Paternity leave: 3 days. Marriage: 5 days.
- Hajj: 10 to 15 days, once, after two years' service.
- Ending employment
An open-ended contract needs notice: 60 days from the employer and 30 from the employee, for monthly-paid staff.
- Ending a fixed-term contract early without a valid reason: the rest of the term's wages, at least two months, unless the contract sets another figure.
- End of service: half a month's wage for each of the first five years, then a month's wage for each year after.
- On resignation: nothing under two years, a third from two to five, two thirds from five to ten, and the full amount from ten.
Hiring in Saudi Arabia, step by step.
You choose the person
And agree the package in riyals.
The visa or transfer is raised
A new work visa, or a transfer on Qiwa for someone already in the Kingdom.
The contract and cover are in place
Documented on Qiwa, with social insurance registration and medical cover.
Paid every month
You confirm each month's payroll before it is paid, and get one invoice.
Questions about employing in Saudi Arabia
What does it take to employ an expatriate in Saudi Arabia?
An expatriate in Saudi Arabia needs a work visa and a work permit, issued through Qiwa, and then an Iqama, the residence permit. Someone already in the Kingdom can move across by a transfer on Qiwa instead. Their contract is documented on Qiwa and is fixed-term. The employer pays health insurance for them and for their family.
Can someone already in the Kingdom move across?
Does Saudization affect hiring?
Can they work at our site or a client's?
Employing in Saudi Arabia, worked through in full.
Each guide goes further than this page.
- Hiring in Saudi Arabia: visas, roles for Saudi nationals and the contract, step by step
How you hire in Saudi Arabia without an entity of your own: the steps for a foreign national, moving someone already in the Kingdom, the roles reserved for Saudi nationals, the contract, the employee test, leave, and what changed in the last year.
8 min read
- The cost of employing in Saudi Arabia: social insurance, the levy and end of service
What an employer in Saudi Arabia pays on top of salary, a year worked through at two salaries for a Saudi national and an expatriate, the costs that come with an expatriate hire, and what changes the cost.
5 min read
- Ending employment in Saudi Arabia: notice, end of service and a final settlement worked through
How employment ends in Saudi Arabia: the ways a contract can end, notice, what ending one without a valid reason costs, a final settlement worked through, resignation, and the steps when someone leaves.
7 min read