Annual Leave Saudi Labour Law: 21 or 30 Days Explained

Annual leave Saudi employees receive is at least 21 days a year, paid in advance. It rises to at least 30 days once the worker has spent five consecutive years with the same employer, under Article 109 of the Saudi Labor Law. Your contract can offer more, but never less.

This guide shows how to apply the right figure by length of service, how to schedule and postpone leave, and what to pay when someone leaves.

How much annual leave do Saudi employees get?

Saudi workers get a minimum of 21 days of paid annual leave, and a minimum of 30 days after five consecutive years of service. The HRSD Knowledge Centre and the December 2025 HRSD awareness guide both state the same rule.

Two points matter for your records:

• The leave is prepaid. The worker gets the leave wage before going on leave.
• The leave is a minimum. The Executive Regulations say the contract may agree to increase it.

The law text says "days". It does not spell out in the extract we reviewed whether weekly rest days inside the leave count. Set this out clearly in your leave policy and check the current HRSD guidance.

When does the 30-day entitlement start?

The 30-day entitlement applies once a worker has completed five consecutive years with the employer. "Consecutive" means unbroken service with the same employer.

Here is a hypothetical example. Say a Jeddah trading company hired a sales coordinator on 1 March 2021.

1. From 1 March 2021 to 28 February 2026: the coordinator is on the 21-day minimum.
2. On 1 March 2026 the fifth year is complete.
3. From that point, the minimum is 30 days. Apply it to leave you grant after that date.

If the coordinator had left the company for a period in between, the five years would need checking against the actual service record. Keep joining dates, contract renewals and any gaps in one place.

The law does not give a month-by-month rule for how to treat the year in which the fifth anniversary falls. Many employers apply 30 days from the anniversary. If you want a different method, state it in the contract, and check it with HRSD or a Saudi labour lawyer.

Can the employer set the dates or postpone leave?

Yes. The employer may set leave dates according to work needs, or grant leave in rotation. The employer must give the worker at least 30 days' notice of the dates. This comes from the same Labor Law text.

Postponement works like this:

• Worker's request. The worker may postpone leave to the following year, with the employer's approval.
• Employer's need. The employer may postpone leave for up to 90 days after the year-end if work conditions require it.
• Longer than 90 days. This needs the worker's written consent. It cannot go past the end of the year following the year in which the leave fell due.

A practical process for HR:

1. Publish the leave calendar early in the year, so staff and managers can plan.
2. Send each worker written notice at least 30 days before their leave starts.
3. If you must postpone because of a peak period, record the reason and the new date.
4. If the postponement will run beyond 90 days after year-end, get the worker's written consent first.
5. Make sure the postponed leave is taken before the end of the following year.

A peak season is the usual trigger. Think of an e-commerce seller on Salla or Zid around Ramadan sales, or a Dammam freight forwarder when port volumes are high. Peak demand is a work condition, but the 90-day limit still applies.

The worker cannot give up leave, and the employer cannot buy it back during service. Letting leave pile up year after year breaks the rule on timing. It also builds a payout liability, as the exit section below shows.

How do Eid, National Day and sick leave affect annual leave?

If Eid or National Day falls inside annual leave, the annual leave is extended by the same number of days. The HRSD Knowledge Centre confirms that overlapping holiday days extend the leave.

The Executive Regulations list the paid occasion days:

Three rules to apply:

• Eid inside leave. Add the overlapping days to the end of the leave.
• National Day and Eid together. The worker is not compensated for National Day again.
• Sick leave inside annual leave. The annual leave is suspended until the sick leave ends.

Hypothetical example: a worker takes 21 days of leave that includes the four days of Eid al-Fitr. The leave is extended by four days. The return date moves back accordingly.

The article numbering in the Executive Regulations may have changed after the 2025 revisions. Check the current text before quoting an article number in a letter or policy.

What must you pay when an employee leaves?

A worker who leaves without using their leave is paid the wage for the accrued days. Under the Labor Law's exit provision, the worker is also paid for the part of the year worked, in proportion to time served. The December 2025 HRSD guide repeats both points.

Hypothetical example: say a worker leaves with 12 days of unused leave. You owe the wage for those 12 days. You must also pay the proportional leave for the months worked in the current year. Which wage figure counts (basic only, or basic plus allowances) depends on the contract and on HRSD guidance. We have not confirmed a single rule here, so check it before you finalise a settlement.

Keep a running balance per person. When leave is never scheduled, the balance grows, and so does the final settlement.

What changed in 2025, and what should you check?

The Saudi Labor Law amendments were approved on 6 August 2024. King & Spalding reports they were published in the Legal Gazette on 23 August 2024 and came into force after 180 days. Other secondary sources give 19 February 2025 as the start date.

Those law firm summaries report changes to other leave types, such as occasion leave and maternity leave. We found no report of a change to the 21 and 30 day rule in Article 109.

One caution. The English Labor Law file on HRSD's site is the original 2005 text. Check the current Arabic text on the HRSD site or the Bureau of Experts before you rewrite contracts.

Do not use the HRSD "Regulations on Leaves" document for private-sector staff. It covers the civil service, which has its own leave scheme.

Common mistakes with annual leave in Saudi companies

• Paying cash instead of leave during service. It is not allowed. Cash is for exit only.
• Giving 21 days to staff past five years. Track each worker's service start date.
• Sending short notice. The law requires at least 30 days' notice of leave dates.
• Postponing without consent. After 90 days past year-end, you need written consent.
• Ignoring Eid overlap. Extend the leave for the days that overlap.
• Forgetting the part-year at exit. Pay proportional leave as well as unused days.

How to keep the records straight

Most errors come from spreadsheets with missing joining dates. Keep one record per worker: joining date, contract leave entitlement, days taken, days postponed with consent, and the notice sent. Pay data then flows into payroll and the Mudad and WPS routines without re-keying.

If you want that in software, Quickship's HR module tracks leave, visa and document expiry, and payroll inputs. It records your policy. It does not replace the Labor Law or advice from HRSD.