Hire employees in

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, hassle-free

Hire employees in The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, hassle-free

With Deel, your business can easily hire employees in The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. No more worrying about local laws, complex tax systems, or managing international payroll. Deel takes care of everything in 150+ countries.

The average onboarding time frame in The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is 20 days with Deel.

Currency

Saudi Riyal

Capital

Riyadh

Official Language

Arabic

Payroll Cycle

Monthly

Hire employees in The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. No entity needed.

Usually, to hire in The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, your business needs an entity. That means a local office, an address registered as a subsidiary, and an account with a local bank. All of this, plus navigating regional benefits, payroll, tax, and HR laws, can take months.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia also treats contractors differently than full-time employees, so misclassifying a contractor could lead to fines. Deel lets you hire employees in The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia quickly, easily, and compliantly. We even automate tax document collection, payroll, benefits, and more.

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All the necessary benefits for The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
built right in

Deel allows you to provide localized benefits for employees in The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia within minutes. All in one manageable online dashboard.

  • Health Insurance

Our quickstart guide to hiring in The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Navigate the tabs below to learn everything you need to know about hiring an employee in The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Minimum Wage Requirements

In Saudi Arabia, the minimum wage will depend on the nationality of the employee. For Saudi Nationals it will be SAR 4,000 and there won’t be a minimum wage for employees with visas.

Individual Income Tax

There is no income tax in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Employer Cost

The employer cost will depend on the nationality of the employee and gender for health insurance:

  • Saudi Nationals: the employer cost is generally estimated at 10.58% of the employee's salary.
  • Employees with visas: the employer cost is generally estimated at 17.03% of the employee's salary.

Overtime Pay & Maximum Hours

Standard working hours are 8 hours per day, 40 hours per week with a standard work week from Sunday to Thursday. However, employees can have an extended working week from Saturday to Thursday (with Friday as a day off) working 8 hours per day, 48 hours per week.

Part-time employment is not allowed.

Maternity Leave

Employees who have worked for 90 consecutive days are entitled to 10 weeks of paid leave. 4 weeks can be taken before the child's birth. The employee will receive 100% of the salary during this period, and the employer will be responsible for this pay.

Paternity Leave

Employees who have worked for 90 consecutive days are entitled to 3 days of paid paternity leave that must be taken after the child's birth. The employee will receive 100% of the salary during this period, and the employer will be responsible for this pay.

Parental Leave

In Saudi Arabia, no law covers parental leave. However, employees may be entitled to maternity leave and paternity leave.

Sick Leave

Employees are entitled to paid sick leave for up to 60 days. This leave is paid at different rates and by different payers depending upon length:

Period Pay Payer
0 - 30 days 100% Employer
30 - 60 days 75% of the base salary Employer

 

Termination Requirements

Terminations in Saudi Arabia can be complex and can include the termination of visa sponsorship.

Compliant terminations include:

  • Voluntarily by the employee
  • By mutual agreement
  • Unilaterally by the employer based on:
    • probation period
    • objective grounds
    • disciplinary dismissal
    • performance due to unsuitability for the job
  • By expiration of the contract

Notice Period

The minimum notice period is 60 days and can change according to the type of employment.

Severance for Employees

In Saudi, employees are entitled to severance of a half-month wage for each of the first five years and a one-month wage for each of the following years. The calculation is done based on the last wage received and the length of employment.

Severance also must be paid during resignations and is known as the end-of-service award.

To protect you from unforeseen financial risks arising from terminations, Deel applies a Severance Accrual to all employment agreements in this country.  Deel has extensive expertise in managing litigation risk globally and our Severance Accrual calculation is based on the prevailing common-law or statutory entitlements and local best practices. In the event your employee resigns or is not entitled to severance, all unused amounts will be returned to you.

Paid Time Off

Full-time employees are entitled to 21 working days of paid time off (PTO) a year. PTO accrues monthly at 1.75 working days per month.

Employees who have been with the company for more than five years of service are entitled to 30 days of annual leave.

Public Holidays

Saudi Arabia celebrates 4 national holidays. National public holidays include:

  • Founding Day
  • Eid al-Fitr Holiday (4 days)
  • Eid al-Adha Holiday (4 days)
  • National Day

Onboarding

The onboarding timeline will depend if the employee requires a visa and the type applied: 

  • Saudi Nationals: 15-20 business days after MSA signature and deposit payment
  • Visa in-country (Iqama transfer) 25 business days after MSA signature and deposit payment
  • Visa out of country: 60-120 business days after MSA signature and deposit payment

Employment Contract Details

Contracts must be in Arabic and can be bilingual. They must be signed by both parties in the governmental portal. There will be a contract followed by an amendment:

  • Document from the government to submit the application for visas, or sign in the QIWA portal
  • Amendment to cover additional clauses (non-competition, privacy policy, among others).

A contract must include:

  • name
  • start date
  • length of employment no more than two years
    • if the contract is for more than one year, a visa renewal must be agreed upon
  • job description
  • termination conditions

Probation Period

Probation periods last 90 days and can be increased up to 180 days. During the probation period, there is no notice period.
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Hiring in The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, hassle-free

With Deel, your business can easily hire employees in The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. No more worrying about local laws, complex tax systems, or managing
international payroll. Deel takes care of everything in 150+ countries.

Group (8)

999 USD

Management fee

Group (9)

10.58%-17.03%

Estimate Employer Cost

*of employee salary

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