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Working in Saudi Arabia

The basic rules on hours, pay, leave, your passport, and changing jobs — and where to get help when they are broken.

The basics at a glance

These are the minimums in Saudi Arabia's Labor Law for people who work for a company. If you work in a household, different rules apply — see Domestic workers.

Working hours
Up to 8 hours a day, or 48 hours a week. In Ramadan, up to 6 hours a day (36 a week) for Muslim workers.
Overtime
Your normal hourly pay plus 50% of your basic hourly wage.Since 2025, you can agree to take time off instead of overtime pay — but only if you agree.
Weekly day off
At least one full day off a week, with pay — usually Friday. It cannot be swapped for cash.
Paid leave
At least 21 days a year. At least 30 days a year after 5 years with the same employer.
Probation
Up to 180 days, and it must be written in your contract. Either side can end the contract during probation.
End-of-service pay
Half a month's pay for each of your first 5 years, then one month's pay for each year after that.If you resign, you get less: nothing under 2 years, one-third for 2–5 years, two-thirds for 5–10 years, and the full amount after 10 years.
Fees
Your employer pays for recruitment, your work permit, your iqama and its renewal, exit and re-entry visas, and your ticket home — not you.
Summer heat
No outdoor work in the sun from 12:00 to 15:00, from 15 June to 15 September.

Your passport is yours

Saudi rules say an employer may not keep a worker's passport or iqama — and this covers domestic workers too. Even so, it still happens often, especially to domestic workers.

If your passport has been taken: write down when it happened and who has it, keep a photo or copy of it if you can, and tell the Migrant Workers Office.

Your contract and your pay

Before you left the Philippines, you signed an employment contract approved by the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW). If your employer gives you a worse contract after you arrive — less pay, a different job, longer hours — that is called contract substitution, and it is illegal under Philippine law. Keep a copy of the contract you signed at home.

Company workers are paid into a bank account through Saudi Arabia's wage protection system (Mudad). Domestic workers' pay goes through Musaned's electronic wage system, which all household employers must use from 2026.

If you are a domestic worker: your DMW-approved contract must pay at least US$400 a month. (DMW encourages US$500, but in the Gulf it is not required.) A recruitment agency may not charge you a placement fee.

If you are not being paid, keep a record of every missed payday — the dates and the amounts — and any messages about your pay.

Domestic workers: different rules

If you work in a household, you are covered by Saudi Arabia's separate regulation for domestic workers, not the main Labor Law. The main points:

Working hours
Up to 10 working hours a day, with at least 8 hours of rest in a row each day, and a break of at least 30 minutes after 5 hours of work.
Weekly day off
One full day off a week (at least 24 hours), with pay.
Paid leave
30 days of paid leave after 2 years, if your contract is renewed — plus a ticket home.
Sick leave
Up to 30 days a year: 15 days on full pay and 15 on half pay.
End-of-service pay
One month's pay after 4 years in a row.
Your documents
Your employer may not keep your passport or personal documents, and pays the recruitment and iqama fees.

The regulation says you may leave and keep your rights if you are abused, rented out to other people, or given dangerous work. Read the warning below before you leave.

Changing jobs and leaving the country

Since 2021, company workers can move to a new employer when their contract ends without their current employer's permission, and can apply for exit and re-entry or final exit visas themselves through Absher or Qiwa. Changing jobs before your contract ends has conditions, and leaving before it ends can cost you — for example, part of your end-of-service pay.

These changes work differently for domestic workers. A domestic worker can move to a new employer without permission only in listed cases — for example, when wages have not been paid for 3 months.

Employers can still report a worker as “absent from work” — often called huroob. A report like this can cost you your legal status in Saudi Arabia.

⚠ Important warning

Before you leave your employer — read this first

Leaving your employer may be treated as “absconding.” In this country there's an absconding-report risk. It's safer to talk to a person before you leave.

Where complaints go

Start with the Migrant Workers Office (MWO). It is where OFW work cases go — wages, contracts, passports, and abuse — and it can tell you which Saudi office applies to you.

On the Saudi side, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development first tries to settle a dispute between you and your employer (company workers through its Wedy platform, domestic workers through Musaned). If that fails, the case goes to the Labour Court.

Don't wait. A claim in the Labour Court generally has to be brought within 12 months after your contract ends.

In the Philippines, you can also bring a money claim against your recruitment agency, which is responsible together with your employer. That claim must be brought within 3 years, and it usually starts with a conciliation step at the DMW.

Philippine offices in Saudi Arabia

For a work problem, go to a Migrant Workers Office first. The embassy and consulate handle passports, documents, and concerns that are not about work.

Phone numbers, addresses, and the date we last checked each one are in the Handa app preview — open it and tap Offices.

Open the Handa app preview

What to keep

A copy of your contract, any proof of non-payment, messages with your employer, and a photo of your passport if you have one.

What this guide is based on

Handa's plain-language summary of the sources below. It has not yet been checked by a lawyer.

Last updated 14 September 2026.

Something here out of date or wrong? Tell us at contact@handahelp.org.