How long is maternity leave under the Saudi Labor Law?

What the article says

Article 151 gives a female worker maternity leave on full pay for 12 weeks. The six weeks that follow delivery are a mandatory part of the leave. She may distribute the remaining six weeks as she sees fit, starting from four weeks before the expected date of delivery, which is set by a medical certificate certified by a health authority.

"The female worker has the right to maternity leave on full pay for twelve (12) weeks, of which the six weeks following delivery are mandatory. She may distribute the remaining six weeks as she sees fit, starting from four weeks before the expected date of delivery."

Labor Law, Article 151, paragraph 1. Unofficial translation; the Arabic text published by the Bureau of Experts at the Council of Ministers is the authoritative version.

The article adds three supporting rules:

• Late delivery: if the leave left falls below six weeks because the baby arrives after the expected date, the days needed to make it up to six weeks count as unpaid leave.
• Optional extension: in all cases, the worker may extend her maternity leave by one month without pay.
• A sick child or a child with a disability: if the child's health requires a constant companion, the worker is entitled to one month of leave on full pay starting after maternity leave ends, and may extend it by one more month without pay.

What changed in 2025

Royal Decree M/44 raised maternity leave from ten weeks to 12 weeks, stated that the six weeks after delivery are a mandatory part of the leave itself (the previous text prohibited employing her during those weeks), and added the rule on late delivery. The one-month unpaid extension and the leave for a sick child or a child with a disability were already in the previous text. The amendment applies from 19 February 2025.

Who it applies to

It applies to a female worker covered by the Labor Law, meaning anyone who works under an employment contract for the benefit of an employer, under the employer's management or supervision, for a wage (Article 5).

This explainer covers the private sector under the Labor Law. The article does not apply to the groups excluded by Article 7, which include domestic workers, agricultural workers and private shepherds; some of these groups have their own regulations. 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). If your job falls under the civil service or a military system, this page does not cover it, so please check the rules that govern your position.

A general example with hypothetical numbers

• On-time delivery: a worker starts her leave two weeks before the expected date and the baby arrives on time. She has ten weeks left after delivery, including the six mandatory weeks, all on full pay.
• Late delivery: a worker starts her leave four weeks before the expected date and the baby arrives three weeks late. She has used seven weeks before delivery, so only five weeks remain, which is less than six. The missing week counts as unpaid leave, and she may then extend her leave by one month without pay if she wishes.

Hypothetical examples for illustration only. They do not describe any real person.

Common misconceptions

• "Maternity pay depends on length of service." That was the rule in the original Article 152. It ended in 2015, when Articles 151 and 152 were redrafted into a single article providing full pay. The current text also provides full pay and does not tie it to length of service.
• "Maternity leave is ten weeks." It was, before 19 February 2025. It is now 12 weeks.
• "All of the leave can be taken before the birth." No. The six weeks after delivery are mandatory, and the part before delivery starts no earlier than four weeks before the expected date.
• "The extra month is paid." The general extension is one month without pay. The month on full pay applies only where a sick child or a child with a disability needs a constant companion.
• "Working elsewhere during the leave makes no difference." Article 157 says the worker loses her entitlements under Part 9 of the Law (employment of women) if she works for another employer during her authorised leave, and the original employer may then withhold her wage for the leave period or recover what it paid her.

If she ends the contract after childbirth

A female worker receives the full end-of-service award if she ends the contract within three months of the date she gives birth, or within six months of the date of her marriage contract. Article 87 sets this as an exception to the resignation shares in Article 85.

Since the 2025 amendments, Article 2 defines resignation as the worker's written disclosure, without coercion, of the wish to end a fixed-term employment contract, not made subject to any restriction or condition, and the employer's acceptance of it. The Article 85 shares therefore apply to resignation from a fixed-term contract. Ending an open-ended contract with notice under Article 75 is not called resignation in the text, and the site calculator shows the full award for this case. This is a reading of the text, matching what the Qiwa calculator returned in a check on 28 September 2026, not an express rule in it. Details on the end-of-service page.

Related articles for working women

• Article 153: the employer must provide medical care for the female worker during pregnancy and childbirth.
• Article 154: when she returns from maternity leave, she may take one or more nursing breaks of no more than one hour a day in total, in addition to the rest periods all workers get. These breaks count as actual working hours and do not reduce her wage.
• Article 155: the employer may not dismiss the worker, or warn her of dismissal, during her pregnancy or maternity leave. This includes illness arising from either, provided it is proven by an approved medical certificate and her absence does not exceed 180 days a year, continuous or intermittent.
• Article 158: in all places and occupations where women work, the employer must provide seats so they can rest.
• Article 160: a Muslim female worker whose husband dies is entitled to 'iddah leave on full pay of not less than four months and ten days from the date of death; a non-Muslim female worker is entitled to 15 days on full pay.
• Article 87: a female worker receives the full end-of-service award if she ends the contract within three months of giving birth or within six months of her marriage contract. See the end-of-service page.
• Article 113: a worker gets three days on full pay for the birth of his child, taken within seven days of the birth.

Articles 149 and 150 were deleted, Article 152 was merged into Article 151, and Article 156 was repealed, so none of them should be relied on today. The Women at Work page brings these rights together in one place.

Official source

Article 151 and the related articles are published in the Labor Law on the Bureau of Experts at the Council of Ministers website (Arabic). Text reviewed on 28 September 2026.