The Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (Ministry) is rolling out a new enforceable version of the standard form employment contract issued via the Ministry’s Qiwa portal. The roll out integrates the wages clause contained in the Qiwa contract with the Ministry of Justice’s legal services portal, Najiz, enabling an employee to directly enforce the payment terms without having to initiate a claim through the Labour Courts.
Employers in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia have been required for some time to use the standard form employment contracts issued by the Ministry, via the Qiwa portal. This contract is often called the Qiwa contract.
Under the recent changes, the wages clause included as part of the standard wording in the Qiwa contract now has enhanced status: once the parties have agreed the contract via the Qiwa platform, the wage clause is assigned an Execution Number, enabling this clause to be enforced directly through the Ministry of Justice’s online portal Najiz, without having to first initiate litigation through the Labour Courts, where the employer fails to pay the agreed salary correctly or on time.
In line with these changes, the Qiwa contract also now requires employers to set out a more detailed wage breakdown, which includes the statutory amounts deducted from salary and collected by the General Organization for Social Security (known as the “GOSI contributions”) and the consequent net wage. In addition, the contract must also include the date on which the salary will be paid each month.
Another change of note to the Qiwa contract is the relaxation over the number of additional terms to be contained in the contract; going forward, employers will be able to add 27 additional clauses to follow the standard language already contained in the Qiwa contract.
The changes to the treatment of the Qiwa contracts are being rolled out over an 11-month period as follows:
- From October 6, 2025 all new contracts and updates to existing contracts will need to reflect the new changes.
- From March 6, 2026, all existing fixed-term contracts must transition to the new contract, either upon renewal or extension.
- From August 6, 2026, all existing indefinite term contracts must transition to the new contract.
These developments mean that it is extremely important for employers to ensure that the salary stated in the Qiwa contract is the correct amount that will be paid through the Wage Protection System, and any deductions from salary must be in accordance with the Saudi Cabinet Decision No. 219 of 1426 H on the Approval of the Labour Law issued by Saudi Arabia Royal Decree No. M/51 of 1426, as amended. Payroll practices should be reviewed to ensure that inaccuracies between the Qiwa contract and actual monies paid are eliminated.
Given the roll out period described above, employers have some time to identify and correct any inaccuracies that are currently operating in existing contracts ahead of the Ministry deadlines.