What notice period applies to termination in Saudi Arabia?

Article 75 of the Labor Law requires written notice for an indefinite contract terminated for a legitimate reason. Where the wage is paid monthly, the employee must give at least 30 days and the employer at least 60 days. Where the wage is not paid monthly, 30 days applies to either party. Article 76 converts a failure to give notice into a payment equal to the worker's wage for the notice period unless the parties agree otherwise.

Can an employer dismiss without notice in Saudi Arabia?

Only within Article 80 of the Labor Law, which lists the cases where the employer may terminate without award, notice or compensation, such as assault, failure to perform essential obligations after a written warning, dishonesty, forgery to obtain the job, prolonged unjustified absence after warning, and disclosure of industrial or commercial secrets. In every case the worker must be given the opportunity to state reasons for objecting to the termination.

How quickly must final pay be settled?

Article 88 of the Labor Law requires the employer to pay the worker's wages and settle all entitlements within a maximum of one week from the end of the contractual relationship. Where the worker is the party who terminated the contract, the employer has up to two weeks. The employer may deduct any debt the worker owes it because of the work.

Termination Letter in Saudi Arabia

Notice is asymmetric: 30 days if the employee ends an indefinite monthly-paid contract, 60 days if the employer does. Resignation is a codified route with its own deadlines, including deemed acceptance after 30 days of silence and a seven-day withdrawal right. Dismissal without notice is confined to the closed list in Article 80.

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Governing law

Termination of employment is governed by Part Five of the Labor Law, Articles 74 to 88, which set out the grounds of termination, notice, compensation, resignation and the end-of-service award.

Saudi Labor Law, Part Five (Labor Relations), Arts. 74 to 88 (Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development)

What a termination letter has to contain in Saudi Arabia

Article 75 requires written notice to terminate an indefinite contract for a legitimate reason: at least 30 days from the employee and 60 days from the employer where the wage is monthly, and 30 days either way where it is not.
Saudi Labor Law, Part Five (Labor Relations), Art. 75 (Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development)
Article 76 obliges a party that fails to observe the notice period to pay the other an amount equal to the worker's wage for that period, unless the parties agree otherwise.
Saudi Labor Law, Part Five (Labor Relations), Art. 76 (Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development)
Article 77 sets compensation for termination for an illegitimate reason, absent a contractual figure, at 15 days' wages per year of service for an indefinite contract or the wages for the remaining term for a fixed-term contract, and never less than two months' wages.
Saudi Labor Law, Part Five (Labor Relations), Art. 77 (Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development)
Article 80 permits termination without award, notice or compensation only in the listed cases, and only where the worker is given the opportunity to state reasons for objecting; several cases require a prior written warning.
Saudi Labor Law, Part Five (Labor Relations), Art. 80 (Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development)
Article 79 (Bis) deems a resignation accepted if 30 days pass without a response, lets the employer postpone acceptance up to 60 days on a written explanation given before then, gives the employee 7 days to withdraw, and forbids a deferred resignation date.
Saudi Labor Law, Part Five (Labor Relations), Art. 79 (Bis) (Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development)
Article 88 requires wages and all entitlements to be settled within one week of the end of the relationship, or two weeks where the worker terminated.
Saudi Labor Law, Part Five (Labor Relations), Art. 88 (Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development)

Form, notarisation and registration

Article 9 requires the notice and the underlying contract to be in Arabic, with the Arabic text authoritative where a foreign language is used alongside it.
Saudi Labor Law, Part One (Definitions and General Provisions), Art. 9 (Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development)

What catches drafters out

Article 78 gives a worker on employer-served notice a paid full day each week, or eight hours, to seek other work. The employer may excuse attendance, but service runs to the end of the notice and wages remain payable.
Saudi Labor Law, Part Five (Labor Relations), Art. 78 (Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development)
Article 84 sets the end-of-service award at half a month's wage for each of the first five years and one month for each year after, on the last wage. Article 85 cuts it on resignation to one third from two to five years, two thirds below ten years, and the full award at ten years.
Saudi Labor Law, Part Five (Labor Relations), Arts. 84 and 85 (Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development)
Article 82 bars termination for illness before the worker has exhausted the statutory sick leave periods, and lets the worker combine annual leave with sick leave.
Saudi Labor Law, Part Five (Labor Relations), Art. 82 (Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development)