What is the unified contract?
Since the amendments under Royal Decree M/44, the first paragraph of Article 52 of the Labor Law requires the Ministry to set a unified model for each type of employment contract:
«مع مراعاة ما ورد في المادة (السابعة والثلاثين) من هذا النظام، تضع الوزارة نموذجاً موحداً لكل نوع من أنواع عقد العمل، يحتوي بصورة أساسية على: اسم صاحب العمل ومكانه، واسم العامل وجنسيته، وما يلزم لإثبات شخصيته، وعنوان إقامته، والأجر المتفق عليه بما في ذلك المزايا والبدلات، ونوع العمل ومكانه، وتاريخ الالتحاق به، ومدة العقد إن كان محدد المدة، وحقوق كل طرف والتزاماته الأساسية»
Article 52(1) of the Labor Law as published by the Bureau of Experts at the Council of Ministers, as worded by Royal Decree M/44 dated 8/2/1446H. Unofficial translation: "Having regard to Article 37 of this Law, the Ministry sets a unified model for each type of employment contract, containing in essence: the employer's name and location, the worker's name and nationality, what is needed to prove identity, address of residence, the agreed wage including benefits and allowances, the type and place of work, the start date, the contract term if fixed-term, and each party's basic rights and obligations." The Arabic text is authoritative.
The second paragraph requires the contract to follow that model, and allows the parties to add clauses that do not conflict with the Law, its Regulation and the decisions issued under it. The Executive Regulation of the Labor Law adopts the unified models in its Annex 5: the permanent contract (fixed-term or open-ended), the part-time contract, the casual or temporary contract, and the seasonal contract. The contract is documented electronically on Qiwa, as the Qiwa contract documentation guide explains.
What does it mean that the wage clause is an executive instrument?
On 6 October 2025 the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development, with the Ministry of Justice, announced that the wage clause of a documented employment contract is adopted as an executive instrument, through a technical link between the Qiwa and Najiz platforms. The Ministry's announcement says:
«ويُعد بند الأجر سندًا نظاميًا يتيح للعامل أو صاحب العمل التقدم بطلب التنفيذ في حال الإخلال بسداد الأجر، دون الحاجة إلى مستندات إضافية، حيث يتم التحقق تلقائيًا عبر الربط مع منصة "مدد"»
From the Ministry's Arabic news item dated 14 Rabi al-Thani 1447H (6 October 2025). Unofficial translation: "The wage clause is a statutory instrument that allows the worker or the employer to file an execution request if the wage is not paid, without additional documents, as verification is done automatically through the link with the Mudad platform."
According to the initiative page, the wage clause covers the basic wage, the housing allowance if any, the transport allowance if any, and the total of other cash allowances if any.
Conditions and time periods
- Documented on the executive form. The contract must be documented on Qiwa on the unified executive employment contract form.
- Execution number. The contract must have an execution number issued by the Ministry of Justice documentation centre.
- Wage not paid. If the wage is not paid, a request can be filed after 30 days from its due date.
- Partial payment. If only part of the wage is paid, the period is 90 days.
- Employer objection. The employer may object within five days. The initiative page counts them "from the date the request is accepted", while the Ministry's news item counts them from notification.
- Filing and verification. The execution request is filed on the Ministry of Justice's Najiz platform, and eligibility is verified electronically through the link with the Mudad platform.
The phases: all three are now in force
The initiative was applied in three phases by contract type, and all of them have started:
- Phase 1, from 6 October 2025: new or updated contracts.
- Phase 2, from 6 March 2026: renewed fixed-term contracts.
- Phase 3, from 6 August 2026: open-ended contracts.
Phase dates from the Ministry's news item published on 6 October 2025, repeated in its English edition dated 20 October 2025.
Who does it apply to?
The initiative concerns private-sector employment contracts documented on Qiwa on the executive form. It does not cover civil servants, the military, or the categories excluded by Article 7 of the Labor Law, such as domestic workers. The Ministry's news item says the wage clause lets either the worker or the employer file an execution request, while the initiative page describes the request as filed by the worker, with the employer able to object or pay.
A hypothetical example with round numbers
These numbers are hypothetical and for illustration only; they do not describe a real case. Assume a contract documented on the executive form with a wage clause of SAR 8,000 a month: basic wage SAR 6,000, housing allowance SAR 1,500 and transport allowance SAR 500, with the wage due on the first day of each month.
- Nothing of a month's wage is paid: under the initiative's conditions, an execution request becomes possible after 30 days from the due date.
- Only SAR 5,000 of the 8,000 is paid: this is partial payment, and the initiative's period for it is 90 days.
- The end-of-service award: it is not among the components of the wage clause listed on the initiative page, so this example does not cover it.
The example explains the published general conditions only and does not determine what any person is owed.
What this means in practice
- For the establishment: keep the wage components written in the documented contract in line with what is actually paid, and update the contract on Qiwa when the wage changes, since Ministerial Decision No. 75506 requires establishments to update wage data on Qiwa.
- For the employee: review the contract in your Qiwa individuals account before accepting it, and check the wage components written in it.
- For both: Article 90 says monthly-paid workers are paid once a month, and that establishments pay wages into workers' accounts through banks approved in the Kingdom.
Common misconceptions
- "Every employment contract is an executive instrument." The contract must be documented on Qiwa on the executive form and have an execution number from the Ministry of Justice documentation centre.
- "The initiative is only for new contracts." Phase 3 brought in open-ended contracts from 6 August 2026, so all three phases are in force.
- "An execution request needs additional documents." The Ministry's announcement says the request is filed without additional documents, as verification is done automatically through the link with the Mudad platform.
- "The wage clause covers every entitlement." The initiative page lists its components: basic wage, housing allowance, transport allowance and other cash allowances, and names nothing else.
Related articles
- Article 51: writing and documenting the contract, explained in the Qiwa contract documentation guide.
- Article 52: the unified model for each type of employment contract.
- Article 37: a non-Saudi's contract is written and fixed-term.
- Article 90: when wages are paid, and payment through approved banks.
Official sources
- The "Notarized Employment Contract is an enforceable instrument" initiative page on the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development website.
- The Ministry's English news item on the wage clause (20 October 2025).
- The Arabic news item on the announcement (6 October 2025), including the three phase dates.
- The Labor Law on the Bureau of Experts platform, including Articles 37, 51, 52 and 90.
- The Executive Regulation of the Labor Law and its annexes (Arabic), with the unified contract models in Annex 5.
English renderings on this page are unofficial; the Arabic texts published in these sources are the reference.