Article 75 Saudi Labor Law: Notice Periods After 2025

Article 75 Saudi Labor Law: how many days’ notice do you need to end an employment contract?

Article 75 Saudi Labor Law sets the written notice needed to end an employment contract of indefinite duration for a legitimate reason. Since the amendments to the Saudi Labor Law took effect on 19 February 2025, an employee paid monthly must give at least 30 days’ notice and an employer at least 60 days. If the wage is not paid monthly, either side gives at least 30 days.

A party that skips the notice owes the other the worker’s wage for the notice period under Article 76. This guide covers the official text, the before-and-after table, how Article 75 differs from resignation and fixed-term contracts, your paid job-search time under Article 78, worked examples and how notice works in practice on Qiwa.

You can book a consultation on WhatsApp with the team at Al-Safwa Law Firm for Advocacy and Legal Consultations to review your documents and explain your legal options clearly.

Article 75 Saudi Labor Law in brief

Article 75 of the Saudi Labor Law allows either the employee or the employer to end an indefinite-term employment contract for a legitimate reason by giving the other party written notice before the termination date. The minimum notice is 30 days from the employee and 60 days from the employer when the wage is monthly, and 30 days from either party otherwise.

• Scope: indefinite-term contracts only. It does not govern fixed-term contracts.
• Conditions: a legitimate reason, a written notice and a notice period of at least the legal minimum.
• Minimums, not maximums: the contract may set a longer notice period, but not a shorter one.
• Skipped notice: the party that does not observe the notice pays the wage for the notice period (Article 76).
• Employer notice: the employee gets one paid day, or eight paid hours, each week to look for another job (Article 78).

The text of Article 75 after the 2025 amendment

The Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development (HRSD) publishes the amended text in English on its Labor Relations page. In summary, the article now reads:

1. If the contract is of indefinite duration and the wage is paid monthly, either party may end it for a legitimate reason, as follows:
   • if the employee ends it, the employee must give the employer written notice at least thirty (30) days before the termination date;
   • if the employer ends it, the employer must give the employee written notice at least sixty (60) days before the termination date.
2. If the contract is of indefinite duration and the wage is not paid monthly, the party ending it for a legitimate reason, whether the employee or the employer, must give the other party written notice at least thirty (30) days before the termination date.

This wording has applied since 19 February 2025 under the amendments issued by Royal Decree No. M/44. For the first time, the notice period differs between the employee and the employer when the wage is monthly. Before the amendment, both sides gave the same notice.

How many days’ notice: the table before and after 2025

The notice period Saudi Labor Law sets in Article 75 depends on two questions: how the wage is paid, and who is ending the contract. HRSD’s summary of the amended articles shows the old and new rules side by side.

“At least” means the contract can require a longer period but cannot go below the minimum. Many HR templates written before 2025 still say “60 days from either party”. For an employee on a monthly wage, that figure now comes from the contract, not from the law.

The three conditions for ending a contract under Article 75

1. A legitimate reason

The wish to end the contract is not enough on its own. There must be a legitimate reason, and it should be stated in the notice. If there is no legitimate reason, the termination is unlawful and the harmed party can claim the compensation set by Article 77 of the Saudi Labor Law.

2. Written notice

The law requires the notice to be in writing. A verbal notice, or a message that cannot be proved, usually turns into a dispute about whether notice was given at all. A sound notice includes:

• the names of both parties and the contract reference;
• a clear statement that the contract is being ended under Article 75;
• the reason for ending it;
• the date of the notice and the last working day;
• proof that the other party received it, such as a signed copy, an official work email or the company’s HR system.

3. The minimum notice period

The period runs before the termination date, and it is safest to count it from the day the other party received the notice. Throughout the notice period the contract stays in force: the employee keeps working and the employer keeps paying the full wage.

Does Article 75 apply to your contract?

Check the contract type first, on the contract registered on Qiwa. Article 75 applies only to indefinite-term contracts. Article 75 of the Saudi Labor Law applies to indefinite-term contracts, so check your contract type first.

• Non-Saudi employees: Article 37 of the Labor Law requires a non-Saudi worker’s contract to be written and fixed-term, so most expats are not on the contracts Article 75 covers.
• Fixed-term contracts: the contract ends on its end date. Ending it early without a legitimate reason falls under Article 77, which gives the harmed party the wage for the remaining term, with a minimum of two months’ wage, unless the contract sets its own amount.
• Fixed-term contracts that became indefinite: under Article 55, if both parties keep performing a fixed-term contract after it expires, it is treated as renewed for an indefinite period, subject to Article 37 for non-Saudis.
• Resignation: resignation is now a separate way a contract ends (paragraph 3 bis of Article 74 of the Saudi Labor Law), governed by Article 79 bis.

What happens if the notice period is not observed? (Article 76)

Under Article 76, a party that ends an indefinite-term contract without observing the notice period must pay the other party an amount equal to the worker’s wage for that notice period, unless the parties have agreed on more.

• An employer that ends a monthly-paid contract immediately owes the employee 60 days’ wage.
• An employee who leaves immediately can be asked for 30 days’ wage.
• If only part of the notice was worked, the claim usually concerns the remaining days.

Notice pay and unlawful-termination compensation are two different things. If a contract is ended both without notice and without a legitimate reason, the employee may claim the Article 76 amount and the Article 77 compensation together, as the labor court decides in each case. Notice pay does not replace the end-of-service award, which is calculated separately under Article 84.

The employee also has a route in the other direction. In the cases listed in Article 81 of the Saudi Labor Law, such as unpaid wages, the employee may leave without notice and keep all legal rights.

Your rights during the employer’s notice (Article 78)

When the employer gives the notice, Article 78 gives the employee these rights:

• One full day per week, or eight hours during the week, off work to look for another job, with full pay for that time.
• The employee chooses the day or the hours, but must tell the employer at least one day in advance.
• The employer may release the employee from working during the notice period. Service still counts as continuous until the notice ends, and the employer must still pay the wage for the whole notice period.

In practice, this means “garden leave” does not reduce your pay or shorten your service. Your end-of-service award is calculated up to the last day of the notice, not the day you stopped coming in.

Worked examples of Article 75 notice pay

The figures below use a 30-day month. They show the notice amount only; the end-of-service award is calculated separately.

How the figures are reached

• Case 1: 60 days equals two monthly wages: 2 × 10,000 = SAR 20,000.
• Case 2: the daily wage is 6,000 ÷ 30 = SAR 200. The shortfall is 30 − 10 = 20 days, so 20 × 200 = SAR 4,000.
• Case 3: 30 × 200 = SAR 6,000 if the worker would have worked every day; the real figure follows the worker’s usual working days.
• Case 4: notice pay is 2 × 9,000 = SAR 18,000. Article 77 gives 15 days’ wage per year: 300 × 15 × 4 = SAR 18,000, which equals the two-month minimum.

Which wage is used? Notice pay is based on the worker’s wage. Under the Labor Law this usually means the basic wage plus the fixed allowances the worker receives. The contract and the payslips decide which items count in each case.

Serving notice and ending the contract on Qiwa

The written notice and the Qiwa record are two separate steps. Both should show the same dates.

1. Serve the written notice to the other party and keep proof of the date it was received.
2. Work out the last working day by adding at least the legal notice period (30 or 60 days) to that date, or the longer period in the contract.
3. Record the termination on Qiwa: the employer uses Contract Management, and the employee uses HRSD’s Termination of Contractual Relationship service. Choose the reason that matches what really happened.
4. Settle the final dues once the contract ends.

HRSD’s Terminate an Employment Contract user guide (30 August 2026) sets these conditions: the contract must be active, a non-Saudi worker’s work permit must be valid for at least 60 days, and the notice period must be observed when the chosen termination reason requires it. Some reasons take effect without notice.

Timelines and official fees (checked November 2026)

The services below are listed by HRSD as of November 2026 and may change; check the official page before you rely on them.

Why notice disputes usually arise

Notice disputes tend to follow a few repeated patterns: Reading Article 75 of the Saudi Labor Law against your actual dates shows who owes notice pay.

• The notice states no reason, which weakens the employer’s position if the termination is challenged.
• There is no proof of the date the notice was received, so the two sides count the period differently.
• An old contract or template still applies 60 days to the employee, or 30 days to the employer.
• Article 75 is used for a fixed-term contract, where Article 77 or Article 79 bis is the relevant rule.
• The employee stops working during the notice period, or the employer stops paying after releasing the employee.
• The termination reason on Qiwa does not match the letter, which later affects the end-of-service award.

How to claim notice pay

A claim for notice pay starts with a friendly settlement request on HRSD’s Wedy service. If the parties do not settle, the case moves to the labor court. Prepare the Qiwa contract, the notice and proof of delivery, recent payslips and your GOSI record. Our labor case lawyer team can review the file and calculate notice pay, compensation and the end-of-service award before the settlement stage.

Frequently Asked Questions about Article 75 of the Saudi Labor Law

Article 75 Saudi Labor Law comes down to three checks: is the contract indefinite, is there a legitimate reason, and was written notice of at least 30 or 60 days given and received? Then apply Article 76 for skipped notice, Article 77 if the reason was not legitimate, and Article 78 for your rights during the employer’s notice.

Before you send or answer a notice, have the contract type, the dates and the wage used for the calculation checked. If you need the notice itself drafted, our team can prepare it around your contract and dates.

To get a legal consultation from our team, contact us via the WhatsApp button at the bottom of the screen.

Read also:

• Employee rights on resignation in the private sector

Sources:

• Labor Law (Royal Decree No. M/51), Bureau of Experts at the Council of Ministers
• Labor Relations: amended Articles 74 to 79 bis, HRSD
• Summary of the Labor Law amendments (Arabic), HRSD
• Labor Law, Article 37 (non-Saudi contracts), HRSD
• Terminate an Employment Contract user guide, HRSD (30 August 2026)
• Termination of Contractual Relationship service, HRSD
• Friendly Settlement for Labor Disputes (Wedy), HRSD
• Qiwa platform

Legal Consultant Mostafa Diab

A legal advisor holding a Bachelor’s degree in Law from the prestigious Cairo University. He possesses extensive experience spanning over 25 years in criminal, civil, and family law, during which he has achieved notable accomplishments that have solidified his reputation as a valuable asset to any legal team