Labor & Employment Legal Services

Whether you're an employer building a sound employment relationship from the start, or an employee facing an existing dispute, our labor and employment practice in Jeddah covers labor matters generally alongside more specific tracks like unfair dismissal and end-of-service benefits, employment contracts, and Saudization and Nitaqat compliance.

Three articles everyone keeps confusing

Most end-of-service disputes revolve around three entirely different articles of the Labor Law, and both employees and employers constantly confuse them: one covers compensation for unlawful termination, another sets out the cases where the right to compensation is forfeited, and separate articles govern the end-of-service gratuity itself. Each has completely different conditions for applying, and the common mistake is applying one article's calculation to a case that actually falls under another, leading to an entirely wrong estimate of what's actually owed.

"Actual wage" isn't always what you see on the payslip

One of the most costly mistakes in calculating any labor entitlement is relying on the base salary alone, when the law recognizes the concept of "actual wage," which may include fixed allowances like housing and transport if they form a regular part of the employee's monthly entitlements. This distinction can meaningfully change the value of what's owed, especially for employees whose allowances make up a large share of their monthly income, and determining whether a given allowance counts toward the actual wage needs scrutiny of both the contract and the company's actual practice.

The "Wedi" platform isn't a formality you can skip

Before escalating to labor court, the law requires attempting amicable settlement through the "Wedi" platform run by the Ministry of Human Resources, and treating this step casually or dismissively can weaken your position before the court later, while engaging with it seriously in relatively clear-cut cases can resolve the dispute entirely without any judicial escalation.

The burden of proof isn't always on who you'd expect

In unfair dismissal claims, the burden of proving a lawful reason for dismissal falls on the employer, not on the worker to prove they didn't deserve dismissal. This means an employer who hasn't documented the grounds for dismissal with written warnings and concrete evidence of a breach finds themselves in a weak position before the labor court, even where the dismissal was actually justified in practice.

Determining which article actually applies to your case and calculating your entitlement precisely needs a review of your specific contract and circumstances; reach out to us on WhatsApp for an assessment.