Casual Work Contract

What a casual work contract is

A casual work contract, also called a casual employment contract, is a contract made for casual work (العمل العرضي) under the Saudi Labor Law (نظام العمل). The contract takes its description from the work it covers, and Article 2 of the Labor Law defines casual work as work that by its nature does not fall within what the employer practises in its usual activity, and whose performance takes no more than ninety days.

العمل العرضي: العمل الذي لا يدخل بطبيعته فيما يزاوله صاحب العمل في نشاطه المعتاد، ولا يستغرق تنفيذه أكثر من تسعين يوماً.

That is the Arabic text of the definition in Article 2 of the Labor Law; the English above is our rendering of it, not an official translation.

The definition is built from two conditions, and both must be met together. The first is that the work lies outside the employer’s usual activity. The second is that its performance takes no more than ninety days. Work that meets one condition and not the other is not casual work in the sense of the definition, and a contract for it is not a casual work contract merely because the parties call it one.

How a casual work contract differs from temporary and seasonal work

One mistake is to treat the ninety days as what separates casual work from temporary work. Article 2 of the Labor Law defines temporary work (العمل المؤقت) as work that by its nature falls within the activity the employer practises and whose completion requires a specified period, or that concerns a particular piece of work and ends when that work is finished, and in either case does not exceed ninety days. The same Article 2 of the Labor Law defines seasonal work (العمل الموسمي) as work performed in recognised periodic seasons.

So the ninety days are shared by casual and temporary work, and they do not distinguish the two. The difference lies in how the work relates to the employer’s usual activity: casual work is outside it, and temporary work is inside it.

The usual activity is measured against what Article 2 of the Labor Law calls original work (العمل الأصلي). For individuals, it is the subject of their usual activity. For establishments, it is the work for which the establishment was set up, as stated in its memorandum of association, in its concession contract where it is a concession company, or in its commercial register.

Seasonal work stands apart from both. Its definition in Article 2 of the Labor Law states no number of days at all. It rests on the periodic nature of the season and on that season being recognised.

What the Labor Law applies to a casual work contract

A casual worker is not outside the Labor Law. Article 6 of the Labor Law provides that the provisions on the following matters apply to casual, seasonal and temporary workers:

• Duties and disciplinary rules.
• The maximum working hours, daily rest periods and the weekly rest, and overtime.
• Official holidays.
• Safety rules and occupational health.
• Work injuries and compensation for them.
• Whatever the Minister decides.

The limits on hours and rest therefore reach a casual worker, and they are explained in our guide to working hours and the weekly rest. The rules on injuries reach the casual worker as well, and the concept is set out under work injury.

Article 6 of the Labor Law is a list, and its heads are named one by one. A matter that the list does not name is not added to it by analogy. Royal Decree M/44, in force since 19 February 2025, amended a number of provisions of the Labor Law. That decree did not amend Article 6 of the Labor Law.

The ninety days in a casual work contract: a conversion threshold

The ninety days do more than cap the length of the work. Article 1 of the Implementing Regulation (اللائحة التنفيذية), which implements Article 6 of the Labor Law, provides that where the two parties to a temporary or a casual contract continue working for a period exceeding ninety days, the contract converts into an employment contract subject to all the provisions of the Labor Law. It adds that this happens regardless of the title of the work visa on which the worker arrived, if the worker came from abroad, and regardless of the residence period granted under that visa.

إذا استمر الطرفان في كل من عقد العمل المؤقت أو عقد العمل العرضي في العمل لمدة تجاوزت تسعين يوماً، تحول عقد العمل المؤقت أو عقد العمل العرضي إلى عقد عمل يخضع لجميع أحكام نظام العمل دون النظر لمسمى تأشيرة العمل التي قدم بها العامل، إذا كان وافداً، ومدة الإقامة الممنوحة له بموجبها.

That is the Arabic text of paragraph 1 of Article 1 of the Implementing Regulation; the English above is our rendering of it.

The closing words carry the practical risk. The title of the visa and the period of residence cannot be relied on against the conversion. An employer that assumes a contract stays casual for as long as the worker holds a temporary visa has relied on the very thing the text sets aside.

The conversion also follows from continuing in work, not from signing an addendum or taking a decision. It is an effect that attaches to what has happened. A planned arrangement in which a worker is engaged first and taken on later is examined against this rule under temp to perm.

What the contract converts into is stated in the same words: a contract subject to all the provisions of the Labor Law. Paragraph 1 of Article 1 of the Implementing Regulation does not, in its wording, say that the contract becomes one of indefinite term. The rules on term and conversion are set out in our guide to fixed term and indefinite term contracts.

The approved model for a casual work contract

Casual is not a label written on the form used for a permanent contract. Article 52 of the Labor Law, as amended by Royal Decree M/44, requires the Ministry to set a unified model for each type of employment contract, and Article 18 of the Implementing Regulation adopts those models in its Annex 5. Among them is a casual or temporary employment contract model that stands on its own, alongside the permanent contract model, the seasonal contract model and the part time contract model. The four models are described under substitute contract.

In the casual or temporary model, the clause by which the employer undertakes to provide medical care to the worker through health insurance, under the provisions of the Cooperative Health Insurance Law, is marked mandatory. The seasonal model carries the same clause, also marked mandatory, the permanent model carries a health care clause in its own wording, and the part time model carries no health insurance clause at all. Choosing the description of the contract therefore also chooses the clauses that come with it; its effect does not stop at the name of the contract.

Disputes under a casual work contract

Paragraph 2 of Article 1 of the Implementing Regulation provides that the labour courts (المحاكم العمالية) have jurisdiction over disputes that may arise between the parties under casual, seasonal and temporary contracts. A casual work contract is therefore within labour jurisdiction, and a dispute under it follows the same route as other labour disputes. That route is described in our guide to amicable settlement and the labour court.

This is an explanation of the concept and of the statutory provisions cited, not legal advice.