End of Service Benefits for Household Workers in Saudi Arabia

If you're employing a domestic worker in the Kingdom — or working as one — the end-of-service gratuity rules sit in a different regulation from the main Labor Law. People get this wrong all the time. Here's what actually applies.

Quick answer

End of service benefits for household workers in Saudi Arabia are governed by Cabinet Decision No. 310 of 1434H (and its 2023 update under Ministerial Decision No. 605), not the Labor Law. A domestic worker who completes four continuous years with the same employer is entitled to a gratuity of one month's wage. Payment falls due at the end of the contract. The Labor Law formula of half-month per year for the first five years does not apply to household workers — a critical distinction most employers miss.

Which law actually governs household workers

Domestic workers — maids, drivers, cooks, nannies, private nurses, gardeners, personal guards — are excluded from the Saudi Labor Law under Article 7 of Royal Decree No. M/51 (1426H). Their rights sit under a separate framework:

• Cabinet Decision No. 310 of 1434H (2013) on domestic workers and similar categories
• Ministerial Decision No. 605 of 1445H (2023), which updated several protections including the end-of-service entitlement

So when someone quotes you the "half-month per year, then full month after five years" formula from Article 84 of the Labor Law, that's the wrong statute. Household workers have their own, simpler rule. ^[1][2]

How the gratuity is calculated

Under the 2023 update, the entitlement is straightforward:

• Complete 4 continuous years with the same employer → one month's wage as end-of-service benefit.
• The "wage" means the basic monthly salary stated in the contract, in SAR.
• Payment is due at the end of the employment relationship — whether the contract ended, was renewed and then terminated later, or the worker chose not to renew after four years.

What this means in practice: if your housemaid earns SAR 1,500 per month and completes four years, you owe her SAR 1,500 at separation. Complete eight years? That's SAR 3,000. The entitlement accrues per completed four-year block, not pro-rated like the Labor Law formula.

Partial years below the four-year threshold do not generate a gratuity under this framework. Honestly, that's the harshest part of the rule and the one workers are most surprised by.

Watch out: If the worker resigns before completing the four-year period without a valid reason, no end-of-service benefit is owed. If the employer terminates without cause before four years, unpaid wages and return-ticket obligations still apply — but the one-month gratuity doesn't vest early.

When the benefit is forfeited or reduced

The gratuity can be lost in specific scenarios set out in the regulations and the standard Musaned contract:

• The worker abandons the job without legal justification (absconding).
• The worker commits a serious breach — theft, assault, deliberate damage — proven through the dispute process.
• The worker voluntarily terminates before completing the four-year qualifying period.

Disputes over whether a termination was "with cause" go first to the Labor Dispute Settlement Committees for domestic workers, administered by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development (MHRSD) through the Musaned platform. Rulings can be escalated to the Labor Courts. ^[3]

Employers should keep: the signed contract (Arabic version controls), WPS or bank transfer records of monthly wage payments, any written warnings, and proof of flight-ticket provision at contract end.

Other end-of-contract obligations you shouldn't confuse with the gratuity

The one-month end of service benefits for household workers in Saudi Arabia is only one line in the final settlement. You also owe:

• Unpaid wages up to the last working day, paid within 10 days of contract end.
• Return air ticket to the worker's home country (unless the worker transfers sponsorship to another employer).
• Unused paid leave — one month of paid annual leave accrues after two years of service under the 2023 amendments, and any untaken days must be cashed out.
• End-of-service certificate on request.

Don't lump these together as "gratuity." They're separate entitlements with separate legal bases, and the dispute committees treat them separately.

For broader context on employer obligations, see our overview of employment law questions in Saudi Arabia.

Practical steps at contract end

1. Calculate completed years of continuous service from the contract start date (not the visa stamp date, if they differ).
2. Confirm the monthly basic wage from the Musaned contract.
3. Settle unpaid wages, unused leave, and the gratuity in a single documented transfer — ideally through the bank account you used for monthly salary.
4. Issue the return ticket or document the sponsorship transfer.
5. Get a signed receipt (clearance) in Arabic.

If the worker disputes any figure, don't improvise. File through Musaned's dispute module within the statutory window — delays weaken the employer's position considerably.