Part Time Work

What part time work is

Part time work is work under a contract whose hours are below half the usual daily working hours of the establishment. In the Saudi texts it is called work for part of the time (العمل لبعض الوقت). Article 120 of the Saudi Labor Law (نظام العمل) leaves its rules to the Minister, and they are set in Article 27 of the Implementing Regulation (اللائحة التنفيذية), issued by Ministerial Decision No. 115921 dated 19/8/1446H and in force since 19 February 2025. What follows describes that edition as published by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development in April 2025.

The definition is narrower than the everyday phrase. In ordinary speech any job with short hours can be called part time. In the Saudi texts the label attaches to a contract that meets a measured threshold and a set of formal requirements, and specific rules follow from the label.

The rules of part time work in Article 27 of the Implementing Regulation

Paragraph One of Article 27 of the Implementing Regulation sets five rules for part time work:

• The contract and its hours. Under item 1 of paragraph One of Article 27 of the Implementing Regulation, the contract must be written and for a fixed term, and it must state the working hours so that they are below half the usual daily working hours of the establishment, whether the work is performed daily or on some days of the week.
• Renewal. Item 2 of paragraph One of Article 27 of the Implementing Regulation allows the contract to be renewed for a similar term, or for a term the two parties agree.
• Termination without a legitimate reason. Under item 3 of paragraph One of Article 27 of the Implementing Regulation, if either party ends the contract without a legitimate reason, the party harmed by the termination may claim the wages for the rest of the contract term as compensation, unless the two parties have agreed otherwise.
• The provisions of the Labor Law that apply. Item 4 of paragraph One of Article 27 of the Implementing Regulation makes part time workers subject to the provisions of the Labor Law on leave, weekly rest, official holidays and overtime.
• Localisation and social insurance. Item 5 of paragraph One of Article 27 of the Implementing Regulation counts a Saudi worker employed on a part time contract in the localisation ratios, at the rates approved in the rules of the Nitaqat programme (نطاقات), provided the worker is registered with the General Organization for Social Insurance as a part time worker.

Part time work is measured against the establishment’s usual day

The threshold is where a summary of the rule can go wrong. The text measures against the usual daily working hours of the establishment, not against the statutory maximum covered in our guide to working hours and the weekly rest.

The consequence is that no single figure fits every establishment. An establishment whose usual day is seven hours has a different threshold from one whose usual day is eight, and a threshold calculated from the statutory ceiling is calculated from a reference other than the one the text names.

The same reference appears in core hours, where a window of required presence is set inside the establishment’s working day. A part time contract sits below half of that day, so on an eight hour usual day a four hour window would be longer than such a contract’s day. The unit of measurement is the same in both; the purpose differs. Core hours are a scheduling convention, and the half day threshold is a statutory condition for describing a contract.

The threshold sets which contracts are part time. No proportion for the wage or for any other entitlement is derived from the threshold itself, and in the provisions we reviewed we found no rule setting how the wage of a part time worker is calculated.

Which provisions of the Labor Law reach part time work

Article 5 of the Labor Law applies the Law to part time workers within the limits of what concerns occupational safety and health, work injuries, and what the Minister decides. The words within the limits restrict the scope rather than add emphasis. The Law reaches part time workers to the extent those subjects and the Minister’s decisions reach them, not across the board. Article 120 of the Labor Law is to similar effect: it applies the Law only within the limits the Minister sets, except for the protection given to comparable full time workers in occupational safety and health and work injuries.

The Implementing Regulation is where the Minister’s decision is found, and item 4 of paragraph One of Article 27 adds leave, weekly rest, official holidays and overtime. So the list of provisions that reach part time workers is not taken from either text alone. Stopping at Article 5 of the Labor Law makes the rights look narrower than they are; stopping at the Implementing Regulation makes them look general. How each category of worker is placed inside or outside the Law is set out under employment status. Rest periods within the working day are a separate subject with a separate provision, distinct from the weekly rest named in item 4.

A worked example of the part time work threshold

The text measures against half the usual daily working hours of the establishment, and its wording is below, not no more than. The difference between the two decides the case that sits exactly on the threshold:

• An establishment with a usual day of eight hours. Half is 8 ÷ 2 = 4 hours. A contract stating 4 hours does not meet the description, because 4 is not below 4. A contract stating 3.5 hours does.
• An establishment with a usual day of seven hours. Half is 7 ÷ 2 = 3.5 hours. The threshold is lower than in the first establishment. The four hour contract meets the description in neither, and the contract of three and a half hours meets it in the first and not in the second.

So the dividing figure is not a property of the contract. It depends on the establishment’s usual working day, and the same contract, worded identically, can fall within the description at one establishment and outside it at another on the same day.

The pattern of the week does not take a contract outside the text. Item 1 of paragraph One of Article 27 of the Implementing Regulation applies the threshold whether the work is performed daily or on some days of the week, so a worker who works on two days a week is within its scope. What the text compares the hours with is half the usual daily hours of the establishment. In the sources we reviewed, we found no rule on how hours worked on only some days are set against that daily measure, for example six hours on each of two days in an establishment whose usual day is eight hours, and no answer is given for that case.

The written, fixed term and stated hours requirements of part time work

Item 1 of paragraph One of Article 27 of the Implementing Regulation requires three things of the contract together: that it is written, that it is for a fixed term, and that it states the working hours at the level described. These are cumulative requirements, not alternatives.

The text does not state whether a contract that lacks one of them is void or valid. What can be said is that it does not meet the description to which the Implementing Regulation attaches the rules of paragraph One, and that the question of its status starts from another provision. The same applies to a contract whose hours rise to half the usual day or above it: in the sources we reviewed, we found no provision stating how that affects the description of the contract. We also found no limit on the number of part time contracts a worker may hold, or on the number of employers.

A fixed term contract has separate rules on how it ends and when it converts, covered in our guide to fixed term and indefinite contracts.

Compensation when a part time work contract is ended early

Under item 3 of paragraph One of Article 27 of the Implementing Regulation, if the contract is ended by either party without a legitimate reason, the party harmed by the termination may claim the wages for the rest of the contract term as compensation, unless the two parties have agreed otherwise. The rule runs both ways: in the worker’s favour where the employer ends the contract, and in the employer’s favour where the worker does.

In figures: a contract for six months is ended after two months without a legitimate reason. The remaining term is four months, and the claim is for the wages of those four months, subject to any agreement between the parties. Had the contract been ended after five months, the remaining term would be one month.

This raises a question that should be asked, not answered by guesswork. Article 77 of the Labor Law, unless the contract fixes a sum for that case, gives the harmed party the wage for the remaining period of a fixed term contract and provides that the compensation is not less than two months’ wage. The rule is set out under unlawful termination compensation. Each text gives way to an agreed alternative, item 3 to what the two parties agree and Article 77 of the Labor Law to a sum the contract fixes, and both measure by the remaining term. Item 3 names no minimum. Where the contract is ended after five months, one month remains, against a floor of two months’ wage in Article 77 of the Labor Law. In the sources we reviewed, we found no text settling how the two provisions relate in this situation, so neither is applied over the other, and each is stated in its own terms.

Part time work and registration with social insurance

Item 5 of paragraph One of Article 27 of the Implementing Regulation does not refer to registration alone. It counts a Saudi part time worker in the localisation ratios on condition that the worker is registered with the General Organization for Social Insurance as a part time worker. So the status recorded is part of the rule, not an administrative detail.

A Saudi worker whose contract meets every requirement of part time work but who is registered under another status does not meet that condition as written. What else depends on an establishment’s band is covered in our guide to Nitaqat band classification. The amount of the contribution and how it is calculated have their own provisions in the social insurance law that governs the worker, and no rule on them is drawn from the definition of part time work.

How part time work differs from flexible work

The Implementing Regulation defines flexible work (العمل المرن) in a separate paragraph. Under item 1 of paragraph Two of Article 27 of the Implementing Regulation, it is work performed by a worker who is not full time, for one employer or more, with the wage calculated by the hour, provided the worker’s hours with any one employer are below half the working hours of the establishment. Item 2 of paragraph Two of Article 27 of the Implementing Regulation restricts flexible work contracts to Saudis only.

That restriction is stated in the flexible work paragraph. We found no counterpart to it in the text on part time work, and we draw no rule in either direction from not having found one.

Paragraph Two of Article 27 of the Implementing Regulation carries further rules for flexible work. They mark where flexible work parts from part time work, and they are not transferred to it:

• The wage is calculated by the hour, the contract must be electronic and for a fixed term, and it must be documented on the electronic portal the Ministry specifies.
• The term of the contract with one employer must not exceed one year, continuous or in separate periods.
• The employer is not bound to compensate the worker for any kind of paid leave or to pay an end of service award, and the worker is not subject to a probation period.
• Hours above 95 a month count as overtime, and the worker may not be employed for more than 160 hours a month by one employer. These are two figures for two different rules: the first is the overtime threshold and the second is the ceiling on employment, and they are not merged.
• The worker has the right, subject to what the contract provides, to accept or refuse when asked to work at any time, without any action being taken against them.

The part time text likewise requires the contract to be for a fixed term, but on one point at least it provides the opposite of the list above: part time workers are subject to the provisions of the Labor Law on leave, weekly rest, official holidays and overtime. For the rest of the list, we found no counterpart in the text on part time work, including on an end of service award or a probation period, and nothing is inferred from that absence for part time workers either way.

The provisions relied on are those of the Saudi Labor Law as published by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development: Article 5 (the scope of the Law and the part time list), Article 77 (compensation for unlawful termination) and Article 120 (the delegation of part time rules to the Minister). From the Implementing Regulation, in the edition published by the same Ministry in April 2025: Article 27 (part time work and flexible work). Royal Decree M/44 of 1446H, in force since 19 February 2025, did not amend Article 77 of the Labor Law.

Part time work and flexible working practices

Other HR terms also carry the idea of flexibility but are neither of the two contract types above: an agile workforce, a flexible workplace and a compressed workweek. They are concepts from HR practice, not contract types set in the texts. When part time work is discussed alongside them, it helps to say in the first sentence which one is meant.

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