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Holidays, vacations, and leaves are key contributors in achieving a better work-life balance for employees; therefore they contribute to providing companies with happier and more productive employees. Managing employees’ leaves and vacations and linking them with payroll calculations, while staying compliant with the labor laws and regulations in your country is never an easy process. Here’s where an HRMS like ZenHR comes into play! ZenHR allows you to fully automate employees’ leave and vacation management. To make it easier for you, we’ll discuss in this article the different types of vacations that are applied and regulated by the Saudi labor law and according to the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development:

Official Holidays

Each and every employee in KSA is entitled to 3 types of official holidays:

1. Eid al Fitr Holiday: A 4-day holiday that starts from the day following the 29^th of Ramadan according to the timing of Umm al Qura.
2. Eid al Adha Holiday: A4-day holiday that starts from the ARAFAT day.
3. The Kingdom National Day: 1-day holiday which is the first day of Libra according to Umm al Qura day. If the national day coincides with a weekend day; employees should be compensated with another weekday.
   
   

Annual Leave

A 21-day leave for employees who haven’t completed 5 consecutive years with the same employers, and a 30-day leave for employees who have been with the same employer for 5+ years.

According to the Saudi labor law, employees shall take their annual leaves in the year it is due, and they cannot carry them over the next year or exchange them with a cash allowance during their period of service unless this is approved by the employer. However, the employee is entitled to be paid for days of leave due, if he/she leaves the company before making use of them.

Paid Personal Leave

Every employee in KSA is entitled to 3 types of paid personal leaves (Further to all the leaves entitled to female employees):

1. New Born Leave: A 3-day leave when receiving a new child.
2. Marriage Leave: A 5-day leave upon getting married.
3. Death Leave: A 5-day leave in the case of a death of a spouse or a close family member.
   
   

Sick Leave

In the case of proven illness, every employee in KSA is entitled to fully paid vacation for the first 30 days, three-quarters of the wage for the next 60 days, and unpaid leave for the 30 days thereafter. Employers are not allowed to terminate any employee with proven illness before taking his/her full entitled paid sick leave.

Exam Leave

According to the Saudi labor law and upon the approval of the employer, employees in KSA have the right to a fully paid leave based on the actual examination days of an unrepeated year. In the case of an examination of a repeated year, employees have the right to request an unpaid vacation based on the actual examination days.

The employer has the right to take disciplinary action and return the paid leave amount if it was proved that the employee didn’t take the exam.

Maternity Leave

Every working mother in KSA is entitled to a fully paid 10-week maternity leave, and she has the right and flexibility to distribute it as she prefers, start with a maximum of 4 weeks before the delivery date. Working mothers are also entitled to request a one-month extended unpaid leave.

Hajj Leave

According to the article 114 in the Saudi labor law, employees in KSA are entitled to 10 – 15 days of Hajj leave, including the 4-day vacation of Eid al Adha. Hajj leave is given only one time during the period of service with an employer, and the employee must complete 2 years with the same employer to claim this leave.

*DISCLAIMER: All the info presented above are for information-sharing purposes only. To learn more about the official employees’ leaves and vacations according to the labor law in KSA, please visit the official website of the Ministry of Labor and Social Development.

Haneen Ibrahim