Work Injury Under the Saudi Labor Law: Article 132 and Employer Liability

Work injury under the Saudi Labor Law is a topic that starts from a single article: Article 132, not from Articles 137 and 138. Article 132 states that the provisions of the work-injury chapter do not apply to establishments subject to the occupational-hazards branch of the Social Insurance system.

That means everything that follows it, including the financial aid in Article 137 and the compensation in Article 138, is read within that limit. This guide presents the chapter in its statutory order, and starts from where the text itself starts.

1. Article 132: the key that gates the whole chapter

Article 132 states that the provisions of this chapter do not apply to establishments subject to the occupational-hazards branch of the Social Insurance system.

This article isn’t a detail tucked at the end of the chapter; it’s the condition for the whole chapter’s applicability. Articles 133 through 141 are read after it, not before it.

Determining exactly which establishments remain inside this chapter’s scope after Article 132 is a question about another system’s scope of application, and it’s referred to the statutory text and the competent authority.

2. Why this is stated first

The ordering here isn’t a matter of presentation preference. Anyone who reads Articles 137 and 138 as simply what an injured private-sector worker is owed, without first reading Article 132, has carried over a ruling without its condition of applicability.

The rule in this guide: Article 132 is stated first, or Articles 137 and 138 aren’t carried over at all.

3. Article 134: what counts as an injury, and when it starts

Article 134 states that the injury is a work injury within the meaning set out in the Social Insurance system. It adds that occupational diseases count as work injuries, and that the date of the first medical observation of the disease counts, for these purposes, as the date of the injury.

That last sentence is entirely practical: the injury date in an occupational disease isn’t the date the disease arose, it’s the date of the first medical observation. That’s a dated event worth adding to the record.

4. Article 135: relapse

Article 135 states that a relapse, or any complication arising from it, is treated as the injury itself, and that the provisions on aid and treatment for the original injury apply to it.

So a relapse isn’t a new, independent event under this article; it’s an extension of the first one. Linking it to the original injury in the record is what makes that provable.

5. Article 136: the two schedules aren’t in the Labor Law

Article 136 states that occupational diseases are determined by the Occupational Diseases Schedule under the Social Insurance system, and that degrees of total or partial permanent disability are determined by the Disability Percentages Schedule under that same system.

Both schedules sit outside the Labor Law, and neither is reproduced here. Anyone who needs a specific disability percentage should go to its schedule where it actually lives.

6. Article 133: treatment and its costs

Article 133 states that if a worker sustains a work injury or an occupational disease, the employer is obligated to treat them and bear all costs necessary for that, whether directly or indirectly, including:

• Hospital stays.
• Medical examinations and tests.
• X-rays.
• Prosthetic devices.
• Transportation costs to treatment locations.

7. Article 137: temporary disability

Article 137, last amended by Royal Decree M/46 dated 5/6/1436 AH (untouched by M/44), states:

• A worker with temporary disability from a work injury is entitled to financial aid equal to their full wage for 60 days.
• Followed by an amount equal to 75% of their wage for the entire duration of their treatment.
• If the treatment period reaches one year, or it’s medically determined that recovery is not expected and their health condition doesn’t allow them to work, the injury is treated as total disability, the contract is terminated, and the injury is compensated under Article 138.
• The employer has no right to recover what they paid the injured worker during that year.

The two conditions in the third point are alternatives, not cumulative: reaching a year of treatment, or the medical determination. Either one produces the same effect.

8. Article 138: permanent disability and death

• Total permanent disability or death: the injured worker, or their heirs, are entitled to compensation equal to three years’ wages, with a minimum of SAR 54,000.
• Partial permanent disability: the injured worker is entitled to compensation equal to the percentage of that disability, assessed per the approved Disability Percentages Schedule, multiplied by the total permanent disability compensation amount.

The SAR 54,000 minimum is the figure printed in the consolidated Labor Law text published by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development, as read for this guide on September 23, 2026. The text carries no amendment footnote on Article 138, and the article doesn’t appear in M/44’s table of amendments. Whether this figure was amended by a later instrument hasn’t been established by this guide, so it can’t be stated with certainty either way, and the current statutory text is the reference.

9. Article 139: three cases where the employer isn’t obligated

Article 139 states that the employer isn’t bound by Articles 133, 137 and 138 if one of the following is established:

• The worker deliberately injured themselves.
• The injury occurred due to deliberate misconduct by the worker.
• The worker, without lawful reason, refused to appear before the doctor, or refused to accept treatment from the doctor assigned by the employer.

Notice what’s absent from this list: ordinary negligence by the worker. The threshold in the first two cases is intent. And all three cases are conditioned on being established, which brings the matter back to what’s recorded and documented.

10. Article 140: prior employers

Article 140 states that liability for prior employers a worker with an occupational disease previously worked for is determined in light of the treating physician’s medical report. They’re obligated to pay the compensation set out in Article 138, each in proportion to the length of time the worker served with them, provided the industries or occupations they operated in are ones that lead to the disease the worker contracted.

That last condition is part of the article, not an add-on, and it rules out distributing liability across periods of service in activities that don’t lead to that disease.

11. Article 141: reporting, and no deadline in the law

Article 141 states that the procedures for reporting work injuries are set by decisions issued by the Minister. The law itself sets no deadline.

This guide hasn’t located that decision, so no number of days for reporting is stated here. Determining the deadline is a matter referred to the statutory text and the competent authority.

12. Before the injury: Articles 121 to 126

The first chapter of the same title sets out the duties that precede an injury occurring:

• Article 121: the employer must keep the establishment in a healthy and clean condition, lit, and supplied with potable water and water for washing, along with whatever rules, procedures and occupational safety and health protection levels the Minister determines by decision.
• Article 122: taking the necessary precautions to protect workers from hazards and diseases arising from the work and machinery, posting work and worker-safety instructions in a visible place, in Arabic and in another language workers understand where needed, and not charging workers or deducting from their wages any amount for this protection.
• Article 123: before starting work, informing the worker of the hazards of their occupation, requiring them to use the prescribed protective measures, and providing suitable personal protective equipment and training workers on its use.
• Article 124: the worker must use protective measures and maintain them, follow the instructions set to protect their health and prevent injuries and diseases, and refrain from any act or omission that would result in not following them, misusing the equipment provided, or damaging it.
• Article 125: taking precautions for fire prevention, providing technical means to fight it, including securing escape routes and keeping them usable at all times, and posting detailed instructions in a visible place.
• Article 126: the employer is responsible for emergencies and accidents affecting people other than workers who enter the workplace by virtue of their job or with the employer’s consent, when arising from neglect of the technical precautions that the type of work requires, and is obligated to compensate them for losses and damages under the general laws, not under this chapter’s scales.

Article 122 connects directly to another provision: posting instructions in a visible place is what allows relying on the second clause of Article 80 in its relevant case. See Articles 80/81: Dismissal Without Compensation and Resignation Without Notice.

13. The first-aid cabinet and periodic examination

• Article 142: every employer must prepare one or more first-aid cabinets, stocked with medicines and whatever else is needed for initial first aid. Their contents, quantities, medicine amounts, storage arrangements, and the qualifications and level of whoever administers first aid are set by the Executive Regulations, not the law itself. Anyone wanting the exact contents list should check that schedule in the Regulations.
• Article 143: assigning one or more physicians to give workers exposed to an occupational disease a comprehensive examination at least once a year, and recording the examination result in the employer’s records and in those workers’ files.
• Article 144: providing preventive and curative healthcare means per the levels the Minister determines, taking into account what the Cooperative Health Insurance system requires.

Article 143 requires the examination result to be recorded in the worker’s file, not just in a general log.

14. What this text doesn’t cover

• The practical scope of Article 132. Exactly which establishments remain within this chapter after excluding those subject to the occupational-hazards branch is a question about another system’s scope of application.
• The deadline for reporting a work injury. Article 141 refers it to a ministerial decision this guide hasn’t located.
• Whether the SAR 54,000 minimum still applies as of a later date. The consolidated text prints it with no amendment footnote, and that’s the state of the text, not proof it was never amended.
• The occupational safety and health rules and levels in Article 121, and the care levels in Article 144. Both are delegated to a ministerial decision this guide hasn’t located.
• The Occupational Diseases Schedule and the Disability Percentages Schedule. Both sit under the Social Insurance system and aren’t reproduced here.
• Any fine for violating this chapter’s provisions. The violations-and-fines schedule that covers this is not yet published in English on Qoyod.

15. What your system should be tracking

The articles above tie their effects to dates and documents, not estimates:

• The injury date, and the date of the first medical observation in an occupational disease, since that counts as the injury date under Article 134.
• The treatment duration, day by day, since that’s what the 60 days and the one year in Article 137 are measured from.
• The wage used as the basis for the aid and compensation.
• Relapses, linked to the original injury.
• The result of the annual medical examination in the worker’s file, a fact Article 143 requires be recorded.
• Which personal protective equipment was issued, and when the worker was trained on it.
• The date the worker was informed of their occupation’s hazards, before starting work.
• Length of service at the establishment, since Article 140 splits compensation by that proportion.

16. Checklist

• Does the establishment know where it stands under Article 132 before relying on Articles 137 and 138?
• Are work and worker-safety instructions posted in a visible place, in Arabic?
• Is every worker informed of their occupation’s hazards before starting work, and is that documented with a date?
• Is personal protective equipment available, and has training on it taken place?
• Is the annual comprehensive examination conducted for those exposed to an occupational disease, and is the result in their files?
• Does the establishment have a first-aid cabinet stocked per the Executive Regulations?
• Are the escape routes usable, and are fire instructions posted in a visible place?
• Are the injury date and treatment duration recorded well enough to measure the 60 days and the year?

17. Why this turns into a problem

An injury happens at a single moment, but its effects are measured in durations: 60 days at full wage, then a full treatment period, then a year that changes the legal characterization. Each of those durations is counted from a date, and hinges on a date.

Add to that what the law requires be documented in advance: an annual examination result in the worker’s file, notice of hazards before starting work, and training on protective equipment. These are facts that can’t be recreated after an incident; they’re either recorded before it, or they aren’t.

This is where the value of keeping an employee’s facts in one file shows. That’s what Qoyod HR provides: a single employee file holding the contract, documents and their expiry dates with advance alerts, an attendance record for every employee, and their leave, salary and end-of-service dues. End-of-service, overtime and leave-balance calculations are built into the system. It’s an independent HR system with its own subscription, and the connection to Qoyod Accounting is available now.

For more guides and templates, browse the HR Resource Center.

FAQ

What’s the first thing to know about the work-injury chapter in the Labor Law?

Article 132. It states that this chapter’s provisions do not apply to establishments subject to the occupational-hazards branch of the Social Insurance system. That means Articles 133 through 141, including treatment, aid and compensation, are all read within that limit. Reading Articles 137 and 138 as simply what a worker is owed, without mentioning Article 132, is an incomplete reading.

What counts as a work injury?

Article 134 defines a work injury by reference to what’s set out in the Social Insurance system. It states that occupational diseases count as work injuries, and that the date of the first medical observation of the disease counts as the injury date.

What does Article 137 provide for temporary disability?

Article 137 entitles a worker with temporary disability from a work injury to financial aid equal to their full wage for 60 days, then an amount equal to 75% of their wage for the entire treatment period. If treatment reaches one year, or it’s medically determined that recovery isn’t expected and their health doesn’t allow them to work, the injury is treated as total disability, the contract is terminated, and it’s compensated under Article 138. The employer can’t recover what they paid during that year. All of this sits within Article 132’s limit.

When is the employer not bound by Articles 133, 137 and 138?

Article 139 states the employer isn’t bound if it’s established that the worker deliberately injured themselves, that the injury resulted from their deliberate misconduct, or that they refused, without lawful reason, to appear before the doctor or to accept treatment from the doctor assigned by the employer. The threshold in the first two cases is intent, not ordinary negligence, and all three cases are conditioned on being established.

What’s the deadline for reporting a work injury?

This guide states no deadline. Article 141 provides that reporting procedures for work injuries are set by decisions issued by the Minister, and the law itself sets no deadline. This guide hasn’t located that decision, so no number of days is published here.

Who bears the cost of protective equipment?

The employer. Article 122 states they may not charge workers or deduct from their wages any amount for providing this protection. Article 123 requires them, before work starts, to inform the worker of their occupation’s hazards, require use of protective measures, and provide suitable personal protective equipment with training on its use.

Regulatory References

This guide is based on the Saudi Labor Law, Chapter Eight: Article 121 (establishment condition), Article 122 (precautions, instructions, and not charging workers), Article 123 (hazard notice, protective equipment, and training), Article 124 (worker duties), Article 125 (fire and escape routes), Article 126 (non-workers at the workplace and compensation under the general laws), Article 132 (the chapter’s non-application to establishments subject to the occupational-hazards branch), Article 133 (treatment and its costs), Article 134 (definition of work injury and its date), Article 135 (relapse), Article 136 (the Occupational Diseases Schedule and the Disability Percentages Schedule), Article 137 (temporary disability, last amended by Royal Decree M/46 dated 5/6/1436 AH), Article 138 (permanent disability and death), Article 139 (cases of non-obligation), Article 140 (prior employers), Article 141 (reporting procedures), Article 142 (first-aid cabinet), Article 143 (annual examination and recording its result), and Article 144 (preventive and curative healthcare); and on the Labor Law’s Executive Regulations for the first-aid cabinet’s contents.

On the effect of Royal Decree M/44 of 1446 AH, in force since February 19, 2025: M/44 touched only one article among Articles 121 through 167, and that is Article 151, which falls outside this guide. So the articles presented here were not touched by M/44. Article 137’s last amendment was Royal Decree M/46 dated 5/6/1436 AH.

This guide is regulatory explanation, not legal advice. For an active dispute or a specific case, the statutory text and the competent authority remain the reference.