Resignation Notice Period in Saudi Arabia: New Labor Law Rules

You submitted your resignation after three years with your company. Your contract is fixed-term and has more than a year left. Two weeks have passed with no reply, and your new company keeps asking when you can start. Your manager says: “We will not approve it now. Wait.” Do you stay on hold until he agrees?

The direct answer: no. Since the Labor Law amendments came into force in February 2025, a resignation from a fixed-term contract is treated as accepted if thirty days pass without a reply from the employer. The employer may only postpone acceptance for up to sixty days, with a written reasoned explanation handed to you before the thirty days end (Article 79 bis). You may withdraw your resignation within seven days, unless it was accepted before then. If your contract is indefinite, you do not need acceptance at all: written notice at least 30 days ahead is enough (Article 75).

What changed in resignation rules since February 2025?

Before the recent amendments, the Labor Law had no definition of resignation and no clear procedure, which caused many disputes: can the employer refuse it? When does the contract actually end? The amendments issued by Royal Decree No. M/44 dated 8/2/1446H, in force since 20/8/1446H (19 February 2025), dealt with this in three ways: they defined resignation, added Article 79 bis for its procedure, and changed the notice periods in indefinite contracts.

The law defines resignation as the worker's written statement, without pressure, of his wish to end a fixed-term employment contract, without restriction or condition, with the employer's acceptance. The definition is linked to the fixed-term contract. In an indefinite contract, you end the contract by written notice under Article 75, which does not depend on the employer's acceptance; the text requires termination by either party to be based on a valid reason.

Is resignation different in a fixed-term and an indefinite contract?

When is a resignation treated as accepted? The deadlines step by step

1. You submit the request in writing; you may not set a later date for the resignation to take effect.
2. Within 7 days of submitting it, you may withdraw it, unless the employer has accepted it before you withdraw.
3. If 30 days pass without a reply from the employer, the request is treated as accepted.
4. Before the thirty days end, the employer may postpone acceptance for up to 60 days if the needs of the work require it, provided he gives you a written explanation of the reasons. The postponement period is counted from the date you receive this explanation.
5. The contract ends when the employer accepts, when thirty days pass without a reply, or when the postponement period ends.

Throughout this period the contract remains in force. You keep working and your wage continues, and both parties remain bound by everything in the contract. After the contract ends by resignation, you are entitled to all your rights under the law.

How do you write a resignation letter?

The law requires the resignation to be written and without restriction or condition. In practice, make sure that:

• You state your wish to end the contract clearly, without linking it to a condition such as payment of a certain amount.
• You do not set a future date for it to take effect, because the law does not recognise that.
• You submit it in a way that proves the date, such as the company's official email or its approved electronic channel, because the seven-day and thirty-day periods are counted from that date.
• You keep a copy of the request and of any reply you receive.

What is the notice period in an indefinite contract?

After the amendment, the notice period depends on who ends the contract. If your wage is paid monthly, you must give the employer written notice at least 30 days before the termination date, while the employer must give you at least 60 days' notice. If your wage is not paid monthly, the period is 30 days for both parties.

Whoever ends the contract without respecting the notice period must pay the other party compensation equal to the worker's wage for the notice period, or for what remains of it, under Article 76. The rule applies to you if you leave suddenly, and to the employer if he ends your contract without notice.

What if you leave before the resignation is accepted?

If the employer accepted your resignation or the period passed without a reply, the contract has ended lawfully. But if you leave before that without one of the reasons in Article 81, your leaving may be treated as an invalid termination, and the employer may then claim compensation under Article 77, because that article gives compensation to the harmed party, whoever it is: the amount set in the contract if it sets one, otherwise the wage for the remaining period of the contract, and not less than two months’ wage.

What if the employer refuses the resignation outright within the thirty days? Article 2 defines resignation as the worker’s written statement of his wish to end a fixed-term contract “with the employer’s acceptance”, and Article 79 bis treats it as accepted without that acceptance only when thirty days pass without a reply. So an express refusal within that period keeps the contract in force until the end of its term, though you may still end it without notice if one of the cases in Article 81 applies.

Before you decide, read your contract carefully. Some contracts include clauses on notice or on obligations in case of early termination, and these clauses are read together with the law, not in isolation from it.

How much end-of-service award do you get if you resign?

An employee on a fixed-term contract served 4 years with a salary of SAR 9,000 and resigned before the term ended.

His full award: 4 × 4,500 = SAR 18,000, and his share on resignation is one third: SAR 6,000.

If he had waited until he passed five years, his share would be two thirds of a larger award, so timing matters here.

This table is what Article 85 sets for a resigning worker, and resignation after the amendment exists only in fixed-term contracts. In an indefinite contract there is no agreed term binding you, so ending it by written notice under Article 75 is a lawful termination that takes the place of resignation. The library's reading of the amended text is that you then receive the full award under Article 84, not the Article 85 scale. Court practice on the amendment is still recent, so keep your written notice and proof that you served the notice period.

You receive the full award despite resigning in cases set out in Article 87, including leaving work because of force majeure beyond your control, and a female worker leaving within six months of her marriage contract or three months of giving birth. The employer must pay your dues within two weeks if you are the one who ended the contract.

If you are leaving because of a breach by the employer that falls under Article 81, do not call your letter a resignation, because the description affects your share of the award.

This is general information based on the official Arabic texts of Saudi laws, which prevail over any translation. It is not legal advice for your specific case.

Practical solutions for the employee and the employer

If you are the employee and want to resign:

• Submit the resignation in writing, and keep a copy showing the date it was received.
• Work out the notice period required from you before committing to a new job.
• If your contract is indefinite, end it by written notice under Article 75 rather than a resignation request, and keep proof of the notice and of the period you served.
• If the employer does not reply, count thirty days from the submission date; after that the request is treated as accepted.

If you are the employer:

• Reply to the resignation in writing, and if you need to postpone it, give the employee a reasoned explanation before thirty days pass; the postponement may not exceed sixty days.
• If you refuse the resignation, do it in writing and before the thirty days pass, otherwise it is treated as accepted. After a refusal the contract stays in force, with its obligations on you as well.
• Settle the employee's dues within the legal period after the relationship ends.
• If the worker ended the contract, settle his dues within two weeks of the end of the contract (Article 88).

The details of resignation after the recent amendments affect your award and the deadlines. Send us on WhatsApp your contract type, length of service and the date you submitted the request, and we will work them out with you.