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

The monthly employer cost will depend on the employee’s nationality, the health insurance category selected, and gender and marital status of the employee and their dependents. 

Estimated employer cost percentage

1.8% + fees for expat employees

Additional notes about costs

• The cost of mandatory health care insurance vary from SAR 3,795 to SAR 20,700 based on several factors, including the insurance category selected, the gender and marital status of the employee and their dependents.
• The monthly employer costs do not include visa fees.
• Expat employees are entitled to one return air ticket to their home country every year and a one-way exit air ticket to their home country in case of resignation, expiration, or termination of the contract.
• On each exit-entry in Saudi Arabia an expat employee fee of USD 54 is applied, a fee may vary up to USD 615 for multiple exit-entry requests for 1 year.
• In case the employee is an engineer, a Saudi Council of Engineering fee of SAR 800 yearly will apply.
• If Deel assists with a local bank account opening of an employee, a charge of USD 27 will be applicable.

These costs are provided as estimates and are intended solely for general informational purposes. To fully comprehend all associated costs and fees related to the terms of any employment agreement for this country, please contact our Sales team for a quote.

Standard working hours are 8 hours per day, 40 hours per week with a standard work week from Sunday to Thursday. However, depending on the business requirements employees can have an extended working week from Saturday to Thursday working 8 hours per day, 48 hours per week. 

The working hours during Ramadan are 6 hours per day

Overtime payment is mandatory for employees in non-managerial positions. 

All working hours performed during holidays and Eids are considered overtime hours. 

Employees can work a maximum of 10 hours a day and 60 hours per week including overtime, for a maximum of 481 hours of overtime in a year. For overtime hours, employees are paid 150% of the hourly rate computed on basic pay.

For employees to work overtime, the employer must grant written consent beforehand. 

Employees in managerial positions are entitled to a day off in lieu of overtime payment. Overtime payment for employees in managerial positions is not mandatory, but it can be granted with the employer’s approval. 

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:

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

The mandatory severance in case of termination is half a month salary. 

The severance amount at Deel is accrued monthly throughout 12 months as 4.167% of the employee’s monthly salary per month. In case of termination, the amount accrued will be used to pay for the required severance. If the severance due is higher than the amount accrued, an additional invoice for the difference will be generated, if the severance due is lower, the difference will be refunded. 

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.

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

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) 20 business days after MSA signature and deposit payment
• Visa out of country: 60-120 business days after MSA signature and deposit payment

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 three years for all employment contracts)
• job description
• termination conditions
  
  Please note:
• For employees on a visa: the contract can be for 1 year (duration of the visa) and up to 3 years. Visas will be renewed yearly.
• For Saudi nationals: if a fixed-term contract is renewed, it becomes an indefinite contract
  
  Deel doesn’t support part-time contracts in Saudi Arabia.