The employer-employee relations are governing by the Labour Law in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). When you receive a job, you have to sign a contract or a letter of agreement. It will contain the conditions of employment and detail job descriptions, that indicates responsibilities and performance standards. On arrival, you need to formalize these documents with an official Ministry version in Arabic. There could also be verbal agreement, but not preferable.

This contract specifies your basic salary, job titles, duties and responsibilities, your contract period and may also the reporting structure and performance measures of the company. It will also contain the termination conditions, that include the notice requirement if intent to terminate on either side and the liabilities to be incurred for breaking the conditions of the contract. If it is mentioned that the employment is subject to obtaining the necessary permits, then be sure to obtain the necessary visas, etc., before moving abroad.

Local labour laws will be applied, whether you hold contract or not. Though a company contract is likely to take precedence over the basic labour laws, wherever its stipulations are in excess of legal requirements, but still you’ll have the minimum protection of the laws.

Most of the expatriate’s contracts are of 2 years traditionally, but open-ended contracts are increasingly becoming common. Employers found that, if an employee proves unsatisfactory, they can be held for a defined period and most of the contracts, now have termination notice period between one and three months or payment in lieu of notice. If all parties are happy, with things as they are then, contracts can be extended or renewed by mutual consent and it occurs frequently. Staying for 20 years or more, for an expatriate in Saudi Arabia, is quite common.

Foreign labour job openings are categories specifically, by the sophisticated, computerized controlled Saudi Arabia’s labour force. Particularly, in the service industries, some employment is reserved for nationals. Therefore, you can find the expected job title in the contract, but something quite different in the official version on your work visa. This could be due to full job quotas or for some other reasons. On the completion of your contract, you might sometimes have to appear before the Ministry, to ensure that you have no complaints and to cancel your work visa.

Prior to the work residence visa, all expatriates, must undertake a government-controlled medical examination. This includes, a general health check-up, looking for serious infectious diseases and infirmities, especially for HIV and AIDS. For the workers from Indian sub-continent and south-east Asia, the medical examination is more stringent. It is because, unlikely the westerners, they might have greater exposure to disease and less access to advanced medical resources, in their home countries. It is mandatory to have AIDS test, including for spouse and you will be expelled immediately, if you are found HIV positive. During the renewing of work visas, these tests are done again. This is usually happening on a 3 year cycle.