Workplace Harassment in Saudi Arabia: Penalty and Employer Duties

A female employee at a marketing company in Riyadh starts receiving messages from her direct manager after working hours: compliments on her looks, then a dinner invitation, then a clear sentence: “Your year-end evaluation is in my hands, think about it.” He is the one who approves her leave and submits her evaluation, and HR reports to him. Her fear for her job has become part of the problem, and this is exactly what the law takes into account.

The short answer: the law settles both questions. The employer must have a confidential mechanism to receive harassment complaints, check them and discipline the offender, and the employee may complain internally and report to the authorities at the same time. If the harassment happens at the workplace or by someone with authority over the victim, the maximum penalty rises to five years in prison and a fine of SAR 300,000.

Is what happens at work legally harassment?

Not every tension between an employee and a manager is harassment. Article 1 of the Anti-Harassment Law requires words, acts or gestures with a sexual meaning that touch a person's body or honour or offend their modesty, by any means, including messages and apps. A harsh manager, or one who distributes tasks unfairly, may violate the Labor Law, but he is not a harasser just because of that.

On the other hand, the unified model Work Organization Regulation, which employers use to prepare their internal rules, prohibits workers from any abuse or physical, verbal or suggestive mistreatment, or any situation that offends modesty or harms dignity, “even if done as a joke”, and treats abuse by phone or electronic means as abuse too (Articles 53 and 54). So the behaviour may be a workplace violation even if it does not reach the level of a crime.

Why is the penalty higher if harassment happens at work?

The ordinary penalty for harassment is up to two years in prison and a fine of up to SAR 100,000, or one of them. But Article 6 raises it to five years and SAR 300,000, or one of them, in certain cases, including two that are common in the workplace: the crime happens “in a place of work”, and the offender has “direct or indirect authority” over the victim.

That authority does not disappear because the message was sent from home after working hours. A manager who controls your evaluation, renewal or promotion still has authority over you. This penalty is not imposed by the company; the company can only impose disciplinary measures. Prison and fines are for the court, after investigation by the Public Prosecution.

What must an employer do about harassment complaints in Saudi Arabia?

Article 5 of the Anti-Harassment Law requires every government or private body to put in place measures to prevent and combat harassment in the workplace, including:

• A mechanism to receive complaints inside the organisation.
• Procedures to check that complaints are true and serious, while keeping them confidential.
• Publishing these measures and informing staff about them.

It also requires the employer to discipline an employee who commits harassment, and states that this disciplinary action does not affect the victim's right to complain to the competent authorities. So an internal investigation is not a condition before reporting, and the company cannot ask you to wait until it finishes.

The unified model Work Organization Regulation sets out the procedure: the employee may complain to the employer within five working days of the abuse, and a witness may also report it. The employer forms a committee that investigates and recommends a penalty within five working days, hears the parties confidentially, and may recommend separating the complainant and the accused during the investigation. If the abuse comes from the owner or the highest authority in the company, the complaint goes directly to the competent government authority. If the act is a crime, the committee must refer it to the general manager to notify the government authorities (Articles 55 and 56).

What if the harasser is the person who receives complaints?

Address your complaint to someone above him, or to an official with no conflict of interest, and state clearly that the person you are complaining about supervises the complaints channel. If he is the owner or the highest authority in the company, go directly to the competent government authorities, including the police and the Public Prosecution.

• Keep the original messages in full, with proof of his job title and his authority over you.
• Write down every incident with its date, place and who was present.
• Keep your past evaluations and assignments. Any sudden change after you refused or complained needs a timeline to prove it.
• Ask in writing for what you practically need during the investigation, for example that he does not approve your evaluation.

Staying in your job during this time does not mean you accept the behaviour or waive your rights.

Can I leave my job because of harassment and keep my rights?

Yes, in specific cases. Article 81 of the Labor Law allows a worker to leave without notice while keeping all legal rights if the employer, a member of his family or the responsible manager commits “conduct contrary to morals” towards the worker or a member of the worker's family, or treats the worker with cruelty, injustice or humiliation. Note that the text names the employer and the responsible manager. If the harasser is an ordinary colleague and the company ignored your complaint, the question becomes whether the employer breached its obligations.

An employee on a fixed-term contract has served four years, and her responsible manager sends her messages with a sexual meaning and hints at her evaluation. If she resigns in the ordinary way, Article 85 of the Labor Law gives her only one third of the end of service award, because her service is between two and five years.

If she leaves under Article 81 and proves the conduct contrary to morals, she keeps all her legal rights. The difference here is two thirds of the award, and it depends on what she writes in her letter leaving work and the evidence she keeps.

On the other side, Article 80 allows the employer to terminate a worker without award, notice or compensation if it is proven that the worker behaved badly or committed an act against honour, provided the employer gives him a chance to state his reasons for objecting. So dismissal must not be a hasty decision without hearing the employee.

Any employment settlement with the company does not erase the criminal side. Article 3 of the Anti-Harassment Law states that a waiver by the victim does not prevent the competent authorities from taking the action they see as serving the public interest.

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 both sides

If you are the employee who was harmed:

• Collect messages and evidence before confronting anyone or complaining, and do not delete anything, even if it is embarrassing.
• File the internal complaint early, keeping in mind the five working days in your employer's rules, and do not treat it as a replacement for an external report if you need one.
• Do not resign under pressure before you know whether your case falls under Article 81, because leaving on that basis keeps your rights.
• Keep the file confidential, and do not publish the messages on public accounts.

If you are the employer or management:

• Adopt a written, published complaints mechanism, and name an alternative person if the accused is the one responsible for it.
• Form the investigation committee immediately, hear both sides and record statements in signed minutes.
• Separate the parties during the investigation without punishing the complainant with a transfer or demotion.
• If the act appears to be a crime, inform the competent authorities, and do not try to contain it internally.
• Do not dismiss the accused before hearing him, because Article 80 requires giving him that chance.

If you are an employee facing this situation, or an employer that received a complaint and is unsure how to handle it, send us the details on WhatsApp and we will review the steps with you confidentially.