Cairo: Saudi Arabia, home to a large community of expat workers, has stressed that employees are entitled to receive wages for the days of due leave if he/she quits work before using them under the kingdom’s labour system.
The Saudi labour law also stipulates that the worker has the right to get paid leave of not less than 10 days and a maximum of 15 days, including the Muslim Eid Al Adha holiday, to perform the annual Hajj pilgrimage in and around Mecca once during the time of his service if he/she has not performed the obligatory Islamic duty before.
To obtain the Hajj leave, the worker should spend at least two consecutive years working for the same employer, who may determine the number of workers granted this leave annually according to the requirements of the work.
The kingdom’s Ministry of Human Resources has also said that a worker in Saudi Arabia has the right to a five-day paid leave in the event of a family member’s death.
The fully paid leave must be obtained in case of the death of the worker’s spouse or any one of the “ascendants or descendants”. The ministry explained that under the Saudi labour law, the term “ascendants” refers to the mother, father, the grandfather and the grandmother while “descendants” refers to sons, daughters as well as the grandchildren.
In addition, article 113 of the Saudi labour law stipulates that the worker has the right to get fully paid leave for five days upon his/her marriage.
In recent years, the kingdom has introduced labour reforms to make its job market more attractive and competitive.
To this end, the Saudi government has recently approved a host of substantial labour changes to preserve contractual rights.
Accordingly, a notice for terminating an employment contract with non-specific duration is now put at 30 days if the notice comes from the worker, and 60 days on the employer’s side.
Maternity leave has also increased from 10 weeks to 12 weeks.
Another amendment puts the duration of work on a trial basis at a maximum of 180 days.
