What the Schedule of Violations and Penalties is
The Schedule of Violations and Penalties (جدول المخالفات والعقوبات) is the tariff that links each violation of the Saudi Labor Law (نظام العمل) and its Implementing Regulation (اللائحة التنفيذية) to its fine. It is not an article of the Labor Law. It is a separate ministerial decision, issued under Article 230 of the Labor Law.
The decision in force is Ministerial Decision No. 112377 dated 21/8/1447H, which corresponds to 9 February 2026. The Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development published it on its website on 8/9/1447H, which corresponds to 25 February 2026. It runs to 24 pages under the title «جدول المخالفات والعقوبات لنظام العمل ولائحته التنفيذية», the Schedule of Violations and Penalties for the Labor Law and its Implementing Regulation.
Clause 9 of Decision 112377 cancels whatever conflicts with it. We state that the Schedule in force is Decision 112377, and we do not trace the chain of decisions that came before it, because in the sources we reviewed we found no Ministry statement of that chain.
Why an amount in the Schedule of Violations and Penalties has three columns
The first four categories of the Schedule are graded by establishment size in three columns, not in a single column:
| Establishment size | Column label in the Schedule |
|---|---|
| 20 workers or fewer | فئة ج |
| 21 to 49 workers | فئة ب |
| 50 workers or more | فئة أ |
Clause 2 of Decision 112377 fixes an establishment’s column by the total number of its workers registered with the Ministry under the unified number (الرقم الموحد) to which it belongs. The count is taken at group level, not for each commercial registration separately. An employer that counts one branch alone may place itself in the wrong column.
An amount quoted without its column is therefore wrong for two of the three size bands. For that reason the amounts below are given with all three columns together, or not at all.
Selected rows of the Schedule of Violations and Penalties: general violations for all activities
The first category of the Schedule covers general violations applying to all activities, and it has 57 rows. The eleven below are transcribed from Ministerial Decision No. 112377 dated 21/8/1447H, with amounts in Saudi riyals and the row numbers the Schedule gives them:
| Violation | Class | 20 workers or fewer | 21 to 49 workers | 50 workers or more | Multiplier |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Row 1. The employer not complying with the approved protection rules, and not taking the precautions needed to protect workers | Grave | SAR 1,500 | SAR 2,500 | SAR 5,000 | None |
| Row 2. Safety and health instructions not posted in the workers’ languages, and in Arabic and English at least | Not grave | SAR 300 | SAR 500 | SAR 1,000 | None |
| Row 6. No first aid cabinet, or contents other than those the Implementing Regulation sets | Not grave | SAR 300 | SAR 500 | SAR 1,000 | None |
| Row 20. Employing a worker who is not a Saudi national without a work permit | Grave | SAR 10,000 | SAR 10,000 | SAR 10,000 | Per worker |
| Row 22. Discrimination in any form, including discrimination in pay between men and women for work of equal value | Grave | SAR 1,000 | SAR 2,000 | SAR 3,000 | Per case |
| Row 30. Not meeting the Saudization ratios for professions and activities that ministerial decisions cover | Grave | SAR 2,000 | SAR 4,000 | SAR 6,000 | Per worker who is not Saudi above the ratio |
| Row 31. Retaining the worker’s passport or iqama | Grave | SAR 1,000 | SAR 2,000 | SAR 3,000 | Per worker |
| Row 34. Not documenting workers’ contracts electronically | Grave | SAR 300 | SAR 500 | SAR 1,000 | Per worker |
| Row 40. Not uploading the wage protection file monthly, or uploading it below the compliance percentage the Ministry sets | Grave | SAR 500 | SAR 1,000 | SAR 2,000 | None |
| Row 41. Not granting the weekly rest, exceeding the hours in Article 98 of the Labor Law without assigning overtime, or not granting the daily rest periods | Not grave | SAR 1,000 | SAR 2,000 | SAR 3,000 | Per worker |
| Row 42. Not granting workers the leave due to them by law | Not grave | SAR 1,000 | SAR 2,000 | SAR 3,000 | Per worker |
Row 22 is the same row that our glossary entries on ageism and internal pay equity cite, with the same three amounts. Row 40 concerns the monthly file described in our entry on the wage protection system.
Not every row has an amount in every column. Where a row carries «لا ينطبق», meaning not applicable, in the smaller columns, that is neither a zero nor an exemption. Row 12 is one: it concerns an establishment employing 50 women or more whose children under the age of six number ten or more, and that has not prepared a place to care for those children. Its fine under Decision 112377 is SAR 3,000 in the column for 50 workers or more alone, with «لا ينطبق» in the other two columns.
What each row of the Schedule of Violations and Penalties carries besides the amount
- The class of the violation, grave or not grave. It is a description stated in the row itself.
- The multiplier. A row can state that the fine is multiplied by the number of workers, or by the number of cases, contracts, requirements, children or juveniles. Its basis is Article 229 of the Labor Law, under which fines are multiplied by the number of persons in respect of whom the violation occurred, applied row by row. The amount in the column is therefore not the ceiling for an incident.
- Doubling on repetition. Article 229 of the Labor Law allows the penalty to be doubled where the violation is repeated.
A row’s existence, its class and its multiplier can be cited with the name and number of the decision. An amount is cited only with all three of its columns and with the decision’s number and date.
A worked example on the Schedule of Violations and Penalties: column, multiplier, repetition
The figure in a cell of the Schedule is an input to a calculation, not its result. Take an establishment with 60 workers, which places it in the column for 50 workers or more. The amounts come from Ministerial Decision No. 112377 dated 21/8/1447H:
- Contracts not documented electronically for eight workers. The cell is SAR 1,000 and the multiplier is per worker, so the fine is 1,000 × 8 = SAR 8,000, not SAR 1,000.
- The same violation repeated. Article 229 of the Labor Law allows the penalty to be doubled on repetition, and Article 39 of the Implementing Regulation treats a violation that is not removed within ten working days of the penalty being imposed as a repetition and doubles the penalty. Doubled, the fine becomes SAR 16,000.
- Six workers who are not Saudi nationals employed without a work permit. The cell is SAR 10,000 in all three columns and the multiplier is per worker, so the fine is 10,000 × 6 = SAR 60,000.
The last figure is above SAR 50,000, which is half the maximum fine in Article 229 of the Labor Law and the limit up to which Article 230 of the Labor Law lets the Ministry impose a fine itself. Above that limit, Article 230 of the Labor Law has the Ministry bring an action before the competent court. If that limit is measured against the multiplied total, multiplication changes not only the amount but also the body that decides it.
In the sources we reviewed, we found nothing that settles whether the SAR 100,000 ceiling in Article 229 of the Labor Law and the SAR 50,000 limit in Article 230 of the Labor Law apply to the total after the multiplier, or to a single violation before it. We therefore build no figure on either reading. The question is a practical one: the work permit row passes SAR 50,000 at six workers and reaches SAR 100,000 at ten.
Where the Schedule of Violations and Penalties sits in the Labor Law
The order of the articles keeps the Schedule apart from the provisions it can be confused with:
- Article 229 of the Labor Law sets the general ceiling. Without prejudice to any harsher penalty in another law, a breach is punished with one or more of a fine not exceeding SAR 100,000, closure of the establishment for not more than 30 days, or its permanent closure. It is a ceiling, not a tariff, so it does not answer the question of what a particular violation costs.
- Article 229 bis of the Labor Law, added by Royal Decree M/44, sets a fine of not less than SAR 200,000 and not more than SAR 500,000 for breaching paragraph 1 of Article 30 of the Labor Law: practising the activity of employing Saudis, recruitment or outsourcing without a licence from the Ministry.
- Article 230 of the Labor Law lets the Ministry impose the fine or the temporary closure up to half the maximum, that is SAR 50,000 and 15 days, and has the Ministry bring an action before the competent court above that. Its second paragraph has the Minister issue a table of violations whose penalties stay within half the maximum, observing gradation and proportionality to the gravity of the violation. Its third paragraph provides for a table of violations whose penalties exceed half the maximum, and of those whose penalty is permanent closure.
- Article 232 of the Labor Law has the fines collected by the procedures for collecting public funds, with the proceeds going to the Human Resources Development Fund (صندوق تنمية الموارد البشرية), not to general revenue.
The preamble of Decision 112377 cites Articles 7, 11 bis, 229, 229 bis, 230 and 231 of the Labor Law together, and it does not label the sections of the Schedule by paragraph of Article 230. We therefore do not assign a paragraph of Article 230 of the Labor Law to any row. The rows are established; the statutory basis of each row has not been established in the sources we reviewed.
How the Schedule of Violations and Penalties is structured, and when it applies
The Schedule is divided into eleven categories, each with a table: general violations for all activities; mines and quarries; the regulation on maritime employment contracts; operation and maintenance activities; the rules for recruitment and labour services, once for human resources and recruitment companies and once for recruitment offices; shared platforms; the controls on advertisements for support labour services; practising the activity without a licence; the regulation on domestic workers; and the regulation on agricultural workers, private shepherds and those treated as such.
Grading by establishment size applies to the first four categories. The two categories for recruitment and human resources companies and for recruitment offices have different columns, together with a separate column for an administrative penalty that escalates in this order: a warning, then suspension of the licence, then its withdrawal.
Clause 7 of Decision 112377 sets when the Schedule applies. It applies from the date the decision was published, except for the administrative violations category and the categories labelled ح, ط, ي and ك, which apply after 120 days from the date of publication. Publication was on 25 February 2026.
The Schedule of Violations and Penalties and the periods to remove, pay and object
Removing a violation, paying its fine and objecting to it are three separate steps, and each has a period set in a different provision. Article 39 of the Implementing Regulation requires the violation to be removed within ten working days of the date the penalty is imposed. Clause 4 of Decision 112377 sets 60 days from notification of the administrative decision for payment. Clause 3 of the same decision lets the employer object before the competent body at the Ministry within 60 days of notification, and it states that the objection does not suspend enforcement of the fine.
A worker’s claim follows a different route. A claim for entitlements passes through amicable settlement at the Ministry and then the labour courts, as set out in our guide to amicable settlement and the labour court. The two routes can be confused: on one the Ministry imposes a fine, and on the other the worker claims an entitlement.
How the Schedule of Violations and Penalties differs from the disciplinary schedule in a work regulation
The Schedule of Violations and Penalties sets fines that the Ministry imposes for breaches of the Labor Law. It is a different instrument from the violations and penalties (المخالفات والجزاءات) set out in the Ministry’s model work regulation (النموذج الموحّد), which an establishment’s work regulation follows and which an employer applies to its workers. The work regulation is covered in our guide to the work organisation regulation. The similar Arabic names can lead the two to be mixed, but one is a tariff of public fines and the other is an internal disciplinary list.
Checking an amount in the Schedule of Violations and Penalties before relying on it
An amount in the Schedule of Violations and Penalties is checked against the Ministry’s official page for the Schedule before it is relied on in a decision or in an assessment of risk, because the Minister can amend the Schedule and a tariff is accurate only as at its date. The amounts above are transcribed from Ministerial Decision No. 112377 dated 21/8/1447H, as published on the Ministry’s website.
Fine tables published on the websites of law firms and consultancies are not a source we take amounts from. An amount that does not appear in Decision 112377 is not rounded, averaged or reconciled with it.
This is an explanation of the concept and of the statutory provisions cited, not legal advice.
A standalone Saudi HR system
One employee file holding the contract, the documents and their expiry dates, the attendance record, leave, salary and end-of-service entitlements. End-of-service, overtime and leave-balance calculations are built into the system.
A standalone system on its own subscription. The connection to Qoyod Accounting is now available.