Worker Housing, Meals and Transport at Sites Remote from Urbanisation

The Saudi Labor Law places in-kind obligations on the employer where work is performed in a place remote from urbanisation: housing, camps and meals, plus transport where regular means of transport do not reach the site. These obligations sit in Articles 146, 147 and 148, and the text describes them as an in-kind performance, not a cash allowance.

This guide presents these articles, and pauses on how the executive regulation defines “remote from urbanisation.” It is a separate subject from one that resembles it in wording but differs from it in effect: the housing allowance and transport allowance owed to all workers under Article 61, detailed in our guide to housing and transport allowances and the parties’ obligations in the employment contract.

1. When is a place “remote from urbanisation”

The definition of this description is not in the Law’s main text, but in Article 30 of the executive regulation, implementing Article 146. It is a numeric definition, not a descriptive one:

• Work sites more than 50 km from the urban boundary set by the amanas and municipalities, where the road is paved;
• and 25 km, where the road is unpaved;
• and population settlements that lack utilities and services.

The two distances in the text are each tied to the condition of the road, paved or unpaved, so neither figure should be quoted without that condition. The last item is not a distance at all; it describes the settlement itself.

Note that this definition is set in the executive regulation, not in the Law’s main text, and attributing it to its actual source is part of quoting it correctly.

2. Article 146: obligations in places remote from urbanisation

Article 146 requires the employer, for work performed in places remote from urbanisation, to provide at its own expense and as the Minister determines, all or some of the following:

• Shops selling food, clothing and other necessities at moderate prices;
• Suitable recreational and cultural facilities and sports grounds;
• Medical arrangements, including comprehensive treatment for the worker’s family;
• Schools for workers’ children where the area has none;
• Mosques or prayer rooms;
• Literacy programmes.

Two qualifications govern this entire list. The first is the phrase “all or some”: the text does not require every item together in every case. The second is “as the Minister determines”: which items apply in a given case is left in the text to the Minister, and this determination was not found by this guide. Establishing it is a matter for the statutory text and the competent authority.

Note that the worker’s family is defined within this same article for the purpose of medical arrangements: the spouse, children, and the mother and father residing with the worker. The definition is part of the text itself, not a gloss on it. A related but separate entitlement, paid leave for family events and illness, is covered in our guide to sick leave and occasion leave.

3. Article 147: housing, camps and meals

Article 147 requires the employer, for work performed in places remote from urbanisation and in mines, quarries and oil-prospecting centers, to provide housing, camps and meals.

The article then defers to a ministerial decision: the conditions and specifications of the housing and camps, the charge payable for the use of housing, the number and quantities of meals and the types of food, and what the worker bears for a meal.

So the article establishes the obligation and leaves its content and amount to a separate instrument, including what the worker bears themselves. This guide has not located that decision, and its content is a matter for the statutory text and the competent authority.

Note that this article’s scope is not limited to the description “remote from urbanisation”; it names mines, quarries and oil-prospecting centers alongside it by name.

4. Article 148: transport, and its limits

Article 148 requires the employer to provide means of transport for workers from their place of residence, or from a designated assembly point, to the workplace, and back daily, where those places are not reached by regular means of transport at times matching the work schedule.

This last condition is what defines the article’s scope: regular transport not reaching the site at times matching work schedules. The obligation in this article is conditional on that description; it is not owed in every case.

Article 148’s text does not mention a cash allowance for these means. The general obligation to provide suitable transport for all workers, dischargeable in kind or by a suitable cash allowance paid with the wage, is set out in item 6 of Article 61, a provision added by Royal Decree M/44, in force since February 19, 2025, detailed in our guide to housing and transport allowances and the parties’ obligations in the employment contract.

The two articles are distinct rules with different scopes, and treating Article 148 as the general transport obligation attributes to it something its text does not carry.

5. Article 145: a neighbouring rule that is not part of this obligation

Article 145 provides that the employer may, with the Minister’s approval, establish a savings fund, provided workers’ participation in it is voluntary and the rules governing it are published.

It is mentioned here to distinguish it, not to fold it in: its wording is “may,” not an obligation, and its scope is not limited to places remote from urbanisation. It is a neighbouring rule in the chapter’s order, but distinct in both description and scope.

6. What this guide does not cover

• Which items of Article 146 apply to a given case, since the text conditions this on what the Minister determines and permits “all or some.” This guide has not located that determination, and establishing it is a matter for the statutory text and the competent authority.
• The conditions and specifications of housing and camps under Article 147. This guide has not located them, and establishing them is a matter for the statutory text and the competent authority.
• The charge payable for use of housing, and what the worker bears for a meal. No figure can properly be stated, and this is referred to the statutory text and the competent authority.
• The number and quantities of meals and the types of food. The main text defers this to a decision this guide has not located, and establishing it is a matter for the statutory text and the competent authority.
• The urban boundary adopted for a specific site, since this is set by the amanas and municipalities under Article 30 of the regulation. A specific case is referred to the statutory text and the competent authority.
• The consequence of violating these articles. No penalty figure can properly be stated, and this is referred to the statutory text and the competent authority.

7. What your system needs to record

• The location of every work site and its distance from the urban boundary, since the regulation’s test is a distance, not a description.
• The condition of the road to the site, paved or unpaved, since the regulation’s distance figure is tied to this condition.
• Which workers are attached to each site and the dates of that attachment, since these articles’ obligations follow the place where work is performed.
• What is provided in kind at the site: housing, camp, meals or a means of transport, with the date.
• What is deducted from the worker for housing or a meal, if anything, since it shows up in the payroll run and needs its own basis.
• The fact that transport is provided, the route, and the assembly point if one exists, worth adding to the record.
• Whether regular transport reaches the site at times matching the work schedule, since Article 148 is conditional on this description.

8. Checklist

• Is the site’s distance from the urban boundary calculated and recorded, rather than estimated?
• Is the condition of the road recorded alongside the distance?
• Does the site fall within a population settlement lacking utilities and services, a condition independent of distance?
• Is what is provided at the site recorded as an in-kind item, not as an amount under an allowances line?
• Where there is a deduction for housing or a meal: is its basis specific, rather than built on an internal estimate?
• Is transport provided on the basis that regular transport does not reach the site at times matching the work schedule?
• Does the contract or your policy conflate Article 148 with item 6 of Article 61, two rules with different scopes?

9. Why this turns into a problem

The confusion here is verbal before it is regulatory. “Housing” and “transport” appear in the Law under rules of different scope: Article 61 sets a general obligation owed to all workers, dischargeable in kind or by a cash allowance paid with the wage, while Articles 147 and 148 set an in-kind performance tied to a description of the place. Transferring one rule’s treatment onto the other changes both the scope and the form of what is owed.

Beyond that, falling within these articles is conditional on a number: the site’s distance from the urban boundary, tied to the condition of the road. An establishment that does not record the distance and road condition has nothing to measure its position under Article 146 against in the first place.

And the content of these obligations, from housing specifications to the number of meals to what the worker bears, is deferred in the text to a ministerial decision. What falls directly within the establishment’s own hands is recording what was actually provided, to whom, when, and what was deducted for it, if anything.

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

For the housing and transport allowances owed to all workers under Article 61, see our guide to housing and transport allowances and the parties’ obligations in the employment contract. For more guides and templates, browse the HR resource center.

Frequently Asked Questions

When must an employer provide housing for workers?

Article 147 requires the employer to provide housing, camps and meals for work performed in places remote from urbanisation and in mines, quarries and oil-prospecting centers. The conditions and specifications of the housing and camps, and the charge payable for use of the housing, are deferred in the main text to a ministerial decision this guide has not located.

What is meant by a place remote from urbanisation?

Article 30 of the executive regulation defines it as work sites more than 50 km from the urban boundary set by the amanas and municipalities where the road is paved, and 25 km where the road is unpaved, plus population settlements that lack utilities and services.

What obligations does Article 146 set?

Article 146 requires the employer to provide, at its own expense and as the Minister determines, all or some of: shops selling food, clothing and necessities at moderate prices; suitable recreational and cultural facilities and sports grounds; medical arrangements including comprehensive treatment for the worker’s family; schools for workers’ children where the area has none; mosques or prayer rooms; and literacy programmes.

Who is included in “the worker’s family” for medical arrangements?

Article 146 itself defines it as the spouse, children, and the mother and father residing with the worker.

Can a cash allowance be paid instead of the means of transport in Article 148?

Article 148’s text does not mention a cash allowance. It requires providing means of transport from workers’ place of residence, or a designated assembly point, to the workplace and back daily, where those places are not reached by regular transport at times matching the work schedule. The general transport obligation owed to all workers, dischargeable in kind or by a suitable cash allowance paid with the wage, is set out in item 6 of Article 61.

Is the savings fund in Article 145 mandatory?

Article 145’s wording is “may”: the employer may, with the Minister’s approval, establish a savings fund, provided workers’ participation in it is voluntary and the rules governing it are published.

Regulatory References

This guide is based on the Saudi Labor Law issued by Royal Decree M/51 dated 23/8/1426 AH, in its current text: Article 145 (the savings fund), Article 146 (obligations in places remote from urbanisation and the definition of the worker’s family), Article 147 (housing, camps and meals), Article 148 (means of transport), and item 6 of Article 61 (the general transport obligation); and the executive regulation to the Labor Law, Article 30 (defining places remote from urbanisation).

On the effect of the amendments in Royal Decree M/44 of 1446 AH, in force since February 19, 2025: the 2025 amendments did not change any article within the range of Articles 121 to 167, other than Article 151, per both the annotations to the updated text and the official table of amendments. Item 6 of Article 61, however, was added by Royal Decree M/44.

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.