Saudi Arabia Implements Stricter Wage Protection Regulations

Wage Terms in Certified Employment Contracts Are Now Legally Enforceable 

The Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development (MHRSD) and the Ministry of Justice recently announced that salary terms of certified employment contracts’ on Qiwa platform will now be considered as legally enforced document in an effort to expedite the resolution of wage-related disputes arising from employment contracts by referring delayed wage claims directly to Ministry of Justice for enforcement, without the need for additional documentation.

The wage terms subject to enforcement include the following: 

• Basic salary. 
• Housing allowance, if applicable. 
• Transportation allowance, if applicable. 
• Total of other cash allowances, if applicable. 

Verification of non-payment issues will take place automatically through integration of different government platforms with the Mudad platform. 

As per MHRSD statement, the aim of the reform is to speed up processing and facilitate access to rights, thereby contributing to a more stable work environment and improving overall compliance levels. 

To benefit from this enforceable mechanism, employment contracts must be documented through the Qiwa platform, and an enforcement number must be obtained from the Ministry of Justice’s Documentation Centre. If a worker does not receive their full wage within 30 days of the due date, or only receives part of it after 90 days, they may submit an electronic enforcement request via the Najiz platform - Opens in new tab. The employer has the right to object within 5 five days of receiving the notification. Whether the above process is compulsory or not is not made clear in the Ministry’s statement and guideline - Opens in new tab.  

According to the MHRSD, the decision will be implemented in three gradual phases: 

Phase 1: Beginning October 6, 2025, for new or updated contracts. 

Phase 2: Starting March 6, 2026, for renewed fixed-term contracts, which, upon expiration and renewal or extension, will be transferred to the enforceable contract system. 

Phase 3: Starting August 6, 2026, for indefinite contracts. 

While this is a step in the right direction, accessing and navigating the enforcement process is likely to be challenging to the majority of migrant workers as it requires the employer’s cooperation and the use of different government platforms to submit a request for immediate wage enforcement. Additionally, the procedure and its guidelines are only in English and Arabic, making them inaccessible to the many migrant workers who are not literate in these languages. 

Inspections Target Firms Delaying Wages 

Under new regulations, Saudi Arabia’s Mudad digital platform - Opens in new tab, the mandatory system through which the Kingdom’s Wage Protection System (WPS) is implemented, will automatically notify the Inspection Department to visit establishments that fail to submit their wage protection files within 20 days from when it’s due. The Mudad platform first sends an email reminder to employers urging them to upload the required data, followed by a second notification 10 days later if no action is taken.  

A wage protection file is an electronic, sealed document containing payroll and reconciliation data for all registered employees. Once uploaded, the file is processed and cross-checked against social insurance regulations, and the establishment’s compliance rate is updated accordingly. 

The Ministry stated that establishments have a 10-day period to justify any delays in paying wages. Workers are then given three days to either accept or reject the justification through the compliance system. If a worker does not respond within that period, the employer’s justification is deemed accepted. However, it remains unclear how workers are notified about these justifications or whether such information is accessible to migrant workers in a language they can understand. 

According to the Mudad platform’s website - Opens in new tab, 93.1% of all establishments have joined the Wage Protection System, with a compliance rate of 88.3% for paying migrant workers. The MHRSD recently reported - Opens in new tab that its inspection department conducted a total of 912,000 field visits to private-sector establishments from the start of the year through 16 August. These inspections uncovered 252,000Labour Law violations. While the statement did not provide exact figures, it noted that inspectors also identified multiple violations related to wage protection laws and delayed salary payments. 

4th Phase of Wage Protection for Domestic Workers Rolled Out 

The Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development announced the launch of the fourth phase of its electronic salary transfer service for domestic workers through approved official platforms, effective 1 October 2025.  

Starting from the above date, all employers with two or more domestic workers must pay their workers through digital wallets and approved banks via the “Musaned” platform. 

 For more information on Saudi Arabia’s Wage Protection System for domestic workers, see our previous report here.