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In Ramadan, Muslim employees work no more than six hours a day or 36 a week, and the year has four official holidays on full pay. Here is what the rules say and how to plan around them.
DynamoOS team7 min read
Article 98 of the Labour Law limits actual working time to eight hours a day if the employer uses a daily standard, or 48 hours a week if it uses a weekly one. During Ramadan, actual working hours for Muslim employees are reduced to no more than six hours a day, or 36 hours a week.
| Period | Daily standard | Weekly standard |
|---|---|---|
| Outside Ramadan | Up to 8 hours a day | Up to 48 hours a week |
| Ramadan, Muslim employees | Up to 6 hours a day | Up to 36 hours a week |
The reduction is about actual working hours. Breaks for rest, prayer and meals are not part of working time under Article 102, and the employee is not under the employer's authority during them. Some categories of work have their own limits in the implementing regulations, so check those if your teams include guards, cleaners or intermittent work.
The law shortens the working day in Ramadan; it does not provide for a lower monthly wage. A monthly-paid employee receives the usual salary for the month. What changes is the rota: shorter shifts, a different start time, and sometimes a split day that suits the evening trade in shops and restaurants.
Work beyond the Ramadan limit is overtime, paid at the hourly wage plus 50% of the basic wage under Article 107, or given as compensatory leave if the employee agrees, within the limits of the implementing regulations. Plan the rota first, so overtime is a choice and not an accident.
Non-Muslim employees are not covered by the Ramadan reduction in Article 98 and keep the normal limits, though many employers align hours for the whole team. Whatever you decide, write it down and apply it consistently.
The usual limits on the working day continue through Ramadan. Under Article 101, no one may work more than five consecutive hours without a break for rest, prayer and food of at least half an hour, and no one may stay at the workplace for more than twelve hours in a single day.
Article 112 gives every employee paid leave on the holidays and occasions set by the implementing regulations, and Article 24 of the regulations lists them. There are four: Eid al-Fitr, Eid al-Adha, National Day and Founding Day. All are on full pay, and none is taken from the employee's annual leave.
| Holiday | Length | When |
|---|---|---|
| Eid al-Fitr | 4 days | From the day after 29 Ramadan, on the Umm al-Qura calendar |
| Eid al-Adha | 4 days | From the Day of Arafah |
| National Day | 1 day | The first day of Libra on the Umm al-Qura calendar (23 September) |
| Founding Day | 1 day | 22 February |
The Eid dates follow the Umm al-Qura calendar, so they move in the Gregorian calendar each year. Put each year's dates on the company holiday list as soon as they are known, so leave requests and attendance treat them correctly.
The regulations settle each overlap. When a holiday falls on the weekly rest day, the employee gets an equal number of days off before or after the holiday. When a holiday falls during annual leave, the annual leave is extended by those days. When it falls during sick leave, the employee is paid in full for the holiday days.
Eid and the two national days also do not count towards an employee's probation, so a new starter's probation ends a little later when a holiday falls inside it.
Yes, when the business needs it, but every hour worked on an official holiday or Eid day counts as overtime under Article 107. That means the hourly wage plus 50% of the basic wage for each hour, or paid compensatory leave if the employee agrees, at no less than an hour and a half off for each hour worked.
Article 106 also lets an employer go beyond the normal daily and weekly limits for Eids, seasons and other occasions set by ministerial decision, and for stocktaking and preparing for seasons. Even then, actual hours may not exceed ten a day or sixty a week, and the yearly overtime cap in the regulations still applies.
Start a month ahead. Agree the Ramadan hours for each team, publish the rota, and decide who works the Eid days and how they will be paid or compensated. Then add the official holidays to the holiday list and check pending leave requests against them, so nobody is charged annual leave for an Eid day.
For a Saudi company, Dynamo People adds Eid al-Fitr, Eid al-Adha, National Day and Founding Day to the holiday list each year, with a day in lieu where a holiday falls on the weekly rest day, so leave and attendance count them correctly. Overtime recorded in Dynamo People flows into Dynamo Payroll for the month.
Either, depending on the standard the employer uses: no more than six hours a day on a daily standard, or 36 hours a week on a weekly standard.
No. Official holidays are on full pay in their own right, and if one falls during annual leave the annual leave is extended by those days.
A holiday day that falls on the weekly rest day is made up with an equal number of days off, before or after the holiday.
Yes. Every hour worked on an official holiday or Eid day counts as overtime under Article 107: the hourly wage plus 50% of the basic wage.
The rules in this article come from these official sources, read on the day it was published.
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