When may a worker leave work without notice and keep all rights?

What the article says

The general rule for an open-ended contract is that the party who wants to end it gives the other party written notice under Article 75. Article 81 makes exceptions for situations mostly caused by the employer or the employer's representative: the worker may leave without notice and keeps all statutory rights.

"The worker may leave work without notice while keeping all statutory rights in any of the following cases."

Opening of Article 81, Saudi Labor Law, the original text issued by Royal Decree M/51 dated 23/8/1426H (27 September 2005), not amended since. Unofficial working translation for awareness only; the official text is the Arabic published by the Bureau of Experts at the Council of Ministers.

The seven cases in brief

1. The employer does not fulfil the essential contractual or statutory obligations towards the worker.
2. It is proven that the employer or the employer's representative deceived the worker at the time of contracting about the terms and conditions of work.
3. The employer, without the worker's consent, assigns work substantially different from the agreed work, contrary to Article 60.
4. The employer, a member of the employer's family or the responsible manager commits a violent assault, or conduct offending decency, against the worker or a member of the worker's family.
5. The treatment by the employer or the responsible manager shows cruelty, injustice or humiliation.
6. There is a serious danger at the workplace threatening the worker's safety or health, provided the employer knew of it and took no measures showing an intention to remove it.
7. The employer or the employer's representative, by conduct, in particular unjust treatment or breach of the contract terms, led the worker to appear to be the party who ended the contract.

Note that some cases carry a qualifier or condition: the obligations in case 1 must be "essential", the deception in case 2 must be proven, and the danger in case 6 must be "serious", known to the employer, and left without measures to remove it.

The link to Article 60

Case 3 refers to Article 60, which bars assigning a worker work substantially different from the agreed work without the worker's written consent, "except in cases of necessity that temporary circumstances may require, and for a period not exceeding thirty days a year".

Who it applies to

It applies to workers under contracts governed by the Labor Law. Its counterpart on the employer's side is Article 80, which lists the cases in which the employer may end the contract without award, notice or compensation. The text of Article 81 does not distinguish between fixed-term and open-ended contracts.

This explainer covers the private sector under the Labor Law. It does not cover civil servants or military personnel, who have their own systems. Article 7 also excludes some groups from the Law, among them domestic workers, for whom the Minister issues a special regulation. For part-time workers, the Law applies only as far as occupational safety and health, work injuries and what the Minister decides are concerned (Article 5).

A hypothetical example: assignment to different work

A hypothetical illustration only: a worker hired as an accountant is assigned, without written consent, to field work substantially different from accounting.

• An assignment of 20 days in the year because a temporary circumstance makes it necessary: this is the exception Article 60 describes, since both of its conditions are met: a temporary necessity, and no more than thirty days a year.
• An assignment of 45 days in the year, even with a temporary circumstance: this goes beyond the thirty-day limit in Article 60, so it falls outside the exception.
• An assignment with no temporary circumstance making it necessary: this is outside the exception from the start, whatever its length.

An assignment outside the Article 60 exception is what case 3 of Article 81 describes as "contrary to Article 60". Whether work is substantially different, or whether a real necessity exists, depends on the facts of each case, and a general example cannot settle it.

Common misconceptions

• "Any dispute with the employer allows leaving without notice." The cases are set out in the text, and several carry a condition or qualifier, as above.
• "Leaving without notice always forfeits your rights." In the seven cases, the Law expressly keeps all the worker's statutory rights.
• "Article 81 is the same as resignation." Resignation, as Article 2 defines it since the 2025 amendments, is ending a fixed-term contract by a written request the employer accepts, and it has its own rules in Article 79 bis, including that a resignation request is deemed accepted if 30 days pass without a response from the employer. Article 81 allows leaving without notice in its listed cases.
• "A worker can never be assigned different work." Article 60 allows it with the worker's written consent, and without it in cases of temporary necessity for up to thirty days a year.
• "The 2025 amendments changed Article 81." The amendments under Royal Decree M/44 did not include it. Its current text is the Law's original text.

Related articles

• Article 80: termination by the employer without award, notice or compensation.
• Article 77: compensation when a contract is ended for an illegitimate reason.
• Article 75: the notice period in an open-ended contract.
• Article 74: the cases in which an employment contract ends.
• Articles 84 to 88: the end-of-service award and the deadline to settle entitlements.
• Article 234: a claim to a right under the Labor Law or the employment contract is not accepted before the labor courts once twelve months have passed from the end of the employment relationship, unless the claimant presents an excuse the court accepts or the other party acknowledges the right.

Official source

The full text of the Labor Law and its amendments is published on the Bureau of Experts at the Council of Ministers portal. The Arabic text published there is the official reference.