Reforms for Private Sector Employees to Ease Work and Travel Rules

Transferring sponsors. Foreign private sector employees will be able to change employment without obtaining consent from their current sponsor upon the expiry of their employment contract or during the validity of the contract in the following circumstances:

• if their current employer approves the transfer;
• if their current employer does not provide a notarized employment contract within three months from the employee’s entry date;
• if their current employer does not pay the employee’s salary for three consecutive months or more;
• if their current employer is absent due to travel, imprisonment or other reasons; and
• if the employee’s work permit or residence permit has expired and has not been renewed by the employer.

This does not apply to domestic household workers.

The change of employer process is expected to be processed electronically.

Employees seeking to transfer employment must obtain the consent of their current sponsor.

Employees will have greater flexibility in changing employers in Saudi Arabia. The current, stricter rule may deter some foreign employees from accepting employment in the country. The new rules should also decrease the number of disputes between employers and workers. 

Exit and Re-Entry Visa and Final Exit Permit. Foreign employees will no longer need to obtain permission from their employer before traveling internationally and before their final exit from Saudi Arabia.

This does not apply to domestic household workers.

Foreign employees must obtain an Exit and Re-Entry Visa for departures from Saudi Arabia, which is processed electronically by the visa sponsor. As such, it is at the sponsoring employer's discretion to approve international travel.

When a foreign national's assignment or employment ends, the individual must obtain a Final Exit Permit to depart Saudi Arabia, which is processed by the employer. 

Foreign employees will be able to more easily travel internationally and for longer periods of time since they will no longer need to undergo the cumbersome process of obtaining permission from their employer each time they seek to leave.

Such requests are expected to be filed directly by foreign nationals through Saudi Arabia’s online platforms; employers will be sent an automatic notification of the employee’s departure from Saudi Arabia.

Digitization of contracts. All contracts between employers and employees will continue to be required to be digitized through the MHRSD’s Qiwa online platform for the entire private sector; the government plans on more strictly enforcing this requirement.

Employment contracts are already subject to digitization, following a phased-in implementation of the online registration process launched by the General Organisation for Social Insurance and the MHRSD in November 2018. However, this has not been strictly enforced.

The digitization of contracts will allow the MHRSD to have greater oversight over the employment conditions in the country, which will prevent abuse or fraud. It may also help reduce the disparity in contracts between Saudi and foreign employees.