What are the rights of workers in Saudi Arabia 2025?

The Saudi labor system aims to regulate the relationship between workers and employers, ensuring a fair, transparent, and stable work environment. It guarantees your rights and obligations as either an employee or an employer to ensure smooth workflow and avoid disputes. Since the launch of Vision 2030, the government has intensified its efforts to develop the work environment by enacting new legislation aimed at achieving a balance between employers' interests and workers' rights, while focusing on providing a safe and healthy workplace that meets all needs. This includes regulating working hours, defining leave policies, ensuring proper wage payments, and guaranteeing necessary commitments.

Fundamental Workers' Rights

Fundamental workers' rights are among the main pillars of protecting human rights in the workplace. They include a set of rights that guarantee workers suitable and dignified working conditions. Among the most prominent of these rights is the right to work, where every individual has the right to work freely and to choose their profession without discrimination or coercion. This includes providing equal job opportunities and removing barriers that hinder stability.

Another fundamental right is the right to fair wages, which ensures that workers receive compensation that matches the type of work they perform, based on standards that guarantee non-discrimination and fairness among workers.

The right to fair wages also includes entitlements such as bonuses, performance-related allowances, and rewards for additional efforts. Workers are also entitled to rest periods and paid annual leave, which help maintain their physical and mental health and enhance their productivity at work.

In the Saudi system, workers can benefit from these rights through the provisions set forth in local laws and regulations aimed at ensuring a safe and sustainable work environment.

Awareness of the importance of these rights is also considered a fundamental element in empowering workers and enhancing their ability to effectively claim their rights.

The Right to Work

The right to work is one of the fundamental rights guaranteed by the legal systems in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. This right includes:

Enabling every citizen and resident to obtain employment independently without discrimination.

Affirming the freedom of individuals to choose work that matches their abilities and preferences, and providing a work environment that respects the mutual rights between employers and employees.

Emphasizing the prevention of arbitrary dismissal and protecting workers from exploitation or discrimination in the workplace.

Requiring employers to provide appropriate working conditions that help workers perform their duties effectively, while ensuring occupational safety and health.

Guaranteeing workers the right to resort to the competent authorities, such as the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development, if exposed to any violations.

Establishing mechanisms to ensure the implementation of labor rights laws, thereby contributing to enhanced job security and improved living standards for workers, leading to overall economic and social stability.

The Right to Fair Wages

The right to fair wages is one of the fundamental rights that all workers should enjoy under the Saudi system. It aims to:

Ensure that workers receive compensation commensurate with their effort and skills.

Set a minimum wage based on the type of work, economic sector, and the specific requirements of each job.

Prevent employing workers for wages below the established minimum, thus protecting their financial rights and ensuring a decent standard of living.

Require employers to pay wages on scheduled dates and guarantee that all workers receive appropriate compensation for the hours they work, whether regular or overtime.

Emphasize the prohibition of delaying or withholding the payment of wages.