Notice Period in Saudi Arabia: 30 or 60 Days, and What If You Skip It

Notice in Saudi Arabia is written into your contract, with a statutory floor: under Article 75 the period must be not less than 60 days where the wage is paid monthly, and not less than 30 days otherwise. In common practice on an indefinite contract, the employer serves 60 days when it ends the relationship and the resigning employee serves 30.

Most pages that rank for this question answer it from the employer’s side. This one answers it from yours: what you owe, what you can buy out, what a new employer will actually accept, and the wording that gets you released early. It is part of the Saudi labor law guide.

Quick answer

The contract sets the number, the law sets the floor. Read the clause before you argue about it.
Notice must be written, and it must state the reason when the employer is the one ending the contract.
Payment in lieu is legal. Article 76 fixes compensation at the wage for the unserved notice period.
During notice, the contract is fully alive — same wage, same benefits, same GOSI, and you cannot start the new job.
Probation is different. During a valid probation period either side can end the contract without notice, unless the contract says otherwise.

How long is the notice period, exactly?

Definition first: the notice period is the time between a written termination notice and the contract actually ending. It is not a cooling-off period and it is not optional goodwill — it is a contractual term with a legal minimum.

Situation	Who gives notice	Common period
Indefinite contract, monthly wage, employer ends it	Employer	Not less than 60 days
Indefinite contract, monthly wage, you resign	Employee	Commonly 30 days
Wage not paid monthly	Either	Not less than 30 days
Fixed-term contract reaching its end date	Neither	Ends by expiry
Fixed-term ended early without valid reason	The party ending it	Compensation under Article 77, not a notice period
Valid probation period	Either	No notice, unless the contract agrees otherwise

Two clauses to read in your own contract before you do anything: the notice clause (a longer agreed period is enforceable), and the contract type and end date. If you are still inside probation, the whole calculation changes — see the probation period rules.

Can I pay instead of serving notice?

Yes, and this is the most useful thing in the article. Article 76 provides that if the relationship ends without the notice period being observed, the party obliged to give notice owes the other compensation equal to the worker’s wage for the notice period, or for the remaining part of it.

That runs in both directions:

The employer releases you early and pays you for the balance of the notice. This is normal and clean.
You leave early and the balance is offset against your final dues.

Worked example. You are on SAR 15,000 a month total, and your contract requires 30 days’ notice. You want to leave after 10 days because your new employer wants you on the 1st. The unserved balance is 20 days, roughly SAR 10,000. If your end-of-service award and leave balance come to SAR 22,000, a documented buy-out leaves you at about SAR 12,000 — and a release letter. Compare that with the cost of a disputed exit that blocks a sponsorship transfer for weeks.

Get the buy-out in writing before you stop attending. A manager saying “just go, it’s fine” is not a settlement.

What happens during notice, and can they change my job?

The contract remains fully in force until the last day of notice. That means:

Full wage, allowances and benefits — nothing may be reduced because you are leaving.
GOSI registration continues, so your service days keep accruing to the last day.
Your terms cannot be changed — a demotion or a transfer designed to push you out during notice is a change to the contract, not a management decision you must absorb.
You are still an employee, so you cannot legally start the new job in parallel.

“Garden leave” — being told to stay home while still being paid — is not a defined statutory concept in Saudi Arabia, but employers do it. If it happens, get it in writing: the last day, that the wage runs to that date, and that your presence is excused. Without that, your absence looks like absence.

Article 80 lets an employer dismiss without award or notice in listed cases, including absence without valid reason beyond set limits — commonly cited as more than 20 days in a year or more than 10 consecutive days. Confirm the current wording before you rely on any specific count, and read Articles 77 and 80 on termination if the exit is going badly.

How do I negotiate a shorter notice period?

Employers release people early all the time — when it is easy to say yes. Make it easy. The pattern: written request, concrete exchange, one date, no leverage revealed.

“I need to leave earlier because the new company can’t wait, so please release me by the end of the month.”

“I’d like to bring my last working day forward to 20 March. To make that work I’ll deliver the full handover document for [system/portfolio] by 15 March, train [colleague] on the weekly cycle, and stay reachable by phone for defined questions for two weeks after. If the remaining notice days need to be offset against my final dues, I’m ready to sign that.”

Three rules behind the strong version:

Name one date, not a range. Ranges invite counter-ranges.
Offer something the manager can point to in his own meeting: a handover document, a trained replacement, a defined availability window.
Put the dues in the same paragraph as the release. Once you have left, your leverage is a phone number.

Then confirm both in one message: the agreed last working day and the settlement. Attach it to your resignation letter if you have not submitted it yet, and do it before you accept a start date from the new employer.

What will my new employer accept?

In the Saudi market, a 30 to 60 day notice is normal and expected — a candidate who promises to start next week from a live contract raises a question about how they will exit their next job. What actually damages you is a start date you cannot meet.

Never confirm a start date until your release date is in writing. Say “30 to 45 days from offer signature, and I’ll confirm the exact date within a week.”
If the transfer of sponsorship or contract registration is involved, add administrative time on top of your notice.
If your new offer’s start date is genuinely immovable, negotiate the buy-out first, then confirm.

The offer letter usually contains the answer to what flexibility you have — read yours properly with how to read a Saudi job offer, and check what your exit date does to your award in the end-of-service calculation guide.

While the notice runs, you have 30 to 60 paid days to prepare properly. TrueSira gives you one Master Profile holding your real experience — including what you finished in this role — and turns it into a tailored, ATS-ready CV for each job description you paste in, with you approving every line. Get started free.

FAQ

How long is the notice period in Saudi Arabia?

Article 75 sets the period in the contract, at not less than 60 days where the wage is paid monthly and not less than 30 days otherwise. In common practice on an indefinite contract with a monthly wage, the employer serves 60 days and the resigning employee serves 30. Your contract may agree a longer period, and that longer period binds you.

Can I pay instead of serving notice?

Yes, in effect. Article 76 provides that a party who ends the relationship without observing notice owes the other compensation equal to the worker’s wage for the notice period or its remaining part. That works both ways: an employer can release you immediately by paying in lieu, and you can buy out your own notice by agreement — in writing, before you stop attending.

Does the notice period differ for fixed-term contracts?

A fixed-term contract normally ends on its expiry date, so the Article 75 notice mechanism is aimed at indefinite contracts. Ending a fixed-term contract early without a valid reason triggers compensation under Article 77 — the amount agreed in the contract, or the wage for the remaining term, with a floor of two months’ wage.

Can my employer extend my notice period?

Not unilaterally, and not beyond what the contract says. What does exist is the resignation rule allowing an employer to postpone acceptance for a stated business reason within a limited period, given in writing. A verbal instruction to stay another month is not an extension; it is a request, and you can decline it in writing while confirming your original last day.

What happens if I stop attending during notice?

The contract is still fully in force during notice, so unexplained absence is treated as absence, not as an early exit. Article 80 lets an employer dismiss without award or notice in listed cases, including absence without valid reason beyond set limits. You also risk paying compensation for the unserved notice under Article 76, deducted from your final settlement.

How do I ask for a shorter notice period?

Ask in writing, offer something concrete in exchange — a completed handover document, a trained replacement, defined remote availability, or a buy-out of the remaining days — and put the release date and the dues settlement in the same sentence. Do not tell them your new start date before you have the release in writing.