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Sick leave runs on a yearly scale of full, three-quarter and unpaid days, and maternity leave is now twelve weeks on full pay. Here is how to apply both rules and pay them correctly.
DynamoOS team6 min read
Article 117 of the Labour Law gives an employee whose illness is proven paid sick leave on a sliding scale. The first 30 days are on full pay, the next 60 days on three quarters of the wage, and the 30 days after that without pay. The scale covers one year, whether the days are continuous or spread out.
| Days of sick leave in the year | Pay |
|---|---|
| Days 1 to 30 | Full wage |
| Days 31 to 90 | Three quarters of the wage |
| Days 91 to 120 | Unpaid |
The law asks for the illness to be proven, so keep the medical report with each request. A clear internal rule on when and how employees send the report saves arguments later.
The year in Article 117 is not the calendar year or the contract year. It starts on the date of the employee's first sick leave and runs for twelve months from there. Every sick day in that window counts towards the same scale of 30 full, 60 three-quarter and 30 unpaid days, continuous or not.
That means each employee has their own sick-leave year. Track the start date per employee, not per company, and reset the count only when twelve months have passed since that first day of sick leave.
For example, an employee first falls sick on 10 March, again in August and once more the following January. All three absences fall in the year that began on 10 March, so they add up on the same scale. An illness after the next 10 March starts a new year, with thirty days on full pay again.
Take an employee on a monthly wage of SAR 9,000, so SAR 300 a day, who is off sick for 100 days within the same sick-leave year. The first 30 days are paid in full, the next 60 at three quarters, and the last 10 days are unpaid. Payroll needs to apply each band on the right days.
| Band | Days | Daily pay | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Full pay | 30 | SAR 300 | SAR 9,000 |
| Three-quarter pay | 60 | SAR 225 | SAR 13,500 |
| Unpaid | 10 | None | SAR 0 |
Over those 100 days the employee receives SAR 22,500 instead of SAR 30,000. Weekly rest days that fall inside sick leave are not made up afterwards, under the implementing regulations.
The implementing regulations deal with the common overlaps. If an employee falls sick during annual leave, the annual leave stops and resumes after the sick leave ends. If an official holiday falls during sick leave, the holiday days are paid in full, whatever band the sick leave is in. And sick leave does not count towards probation.
Since 19 February 2025, Article 151 gives a working woman 12 weeks of maternity leave on full pay. The six weeks after the birth must be taken. The other six she may place as she wishes, starting at most four weeks before the expected date of birth, which a medical report from a health authority sets.
Maternity leave is counted in calendar weeks, so weekends and holidays inside it are part of the twelve weeks.
No. Article 155 forbids an employer to dismiss a working woman, or warn her of dismissal, during her pregnancy or her maternity leave. The protection also covers illness arising from either, proven by a medical report, as long as her absence does not exceed 180 days in the year, continuous or broken up.
The law also protects the award. Under Article 87, a woman who ends her contract within three months of giving birth receives the full end-of-service award, not the reduced share that normally applies on resignation.
A few other kinds of leave sit next to sick and maternity leave and are easy to miss. Article 113 gives a father three days on full pay for a new baby, to be taken within seven days of the birth. Article 160 gives a Muslim widow iddah leave of four months and ten days on full pay.
| Leave | Length | Pay |
|---|---|---|
| New baby, for the father (Article 113) | 3 days within 7 days of the birth | Full pay |
| Iddah, Muslim widow (Article 160) | 4 months and 10 days from the death | Full pay |
| Widow who is not Muslim (Article 160) | 15 days | Full pay |
| Child who is ill or has a disability (Article 151) | 1 month after maternity leave | Full pay |
A widow who is pregnant may extend iddah leave without pay until she gives birth. During iddah leave she may not work for anyone else.
A Saudi company in Dynamo People starts with the Labour Law leave types: sick leave on full pay, a three-quarter-pay sick leave for the next 60 days, 12 weeks of maternity leave counted in calendar days, and iddah leave. Dynamo Payroll pays each type at its own rate, so the bands apply on the right days.
No. The year starts on the date of the employee's first sick leave and runs for twelve months from then.
No. Sick leave is separate, and if an employee falls sick during annual leave, the annual leave pauses until the sick leave ends.
Twelve weeks on full pay since the Labour Law amendments came into force on 19 February 2025. Before that it was ten weeks.
Yes, if she ends the contract within three months of giving birth: Article 87 gives her the full end-of-service award.
The rules in this article come from these official sources, read on the day it was published.
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