📐 Worked Examples
All examples use 27 July 2026 as the "calculate as of" date, and the 21-day / 30-day rates from Article 109. Figures are rounded to one decimal.
1. Less than 5 years of service
Start date 1 March 2023, as of 27 Jul 2026 → 3.41 years of service, all at 21 days/year.
Accrued ≈ 3.41 × 21 = ~71.6 days. No 5-year split needed.
2. Completes 5 years during the calculation period
Start date 1 June 2021, as of 27 Jul 2026. The 5-year anniversary (1 Jun 2026) falls inside this period.
Segment 1 (1 Jun 2021 → 1 Jun 2026, exactly 5 years at 21 days/yr) = 105.0 days. Segment 2 (1 Jun 2026 → 27 Jul 2026, ≈0.153 years at 30 days/yr) ≈ 4.6 days. Total ≈ 109.6 days.
3. Employee with a verified carried-forward balance
Start date 15 Jan 2019 (over 7 years → full period at 30 days/yr), as of 27 Jul 2026 ≈ 225.2 days lifetime accrual, plus a verified 10-day carry-forward confirmed by HR under Article 110 → estimated balance before use ≈ 235.2 days (minus any leave already used).
4. Leaving employment with unused leave (payout shown)
Same profile as example 1 (≈71.6 days accrued, none used), "employment is ending" is checked, actual monthly wage SAR 8,000 → daily rate SAR 8,000 ÷ 30 = SAR 266.67 → estimated payout ≈ 71.6 × 266.67 ≈ SAR 19,093 (unofficial estimate, per Article 111).
5. No payout shown
Same profile as example 1, but "employment is ending" is left unchecked because the worker is still employed. No payout figure is displayed — under Article 109, leave cannot be exchanged for cash during employment, so showing a cash estimate here would be misleading.
📚 Other Leave Types (Reference Only — Not Part of This Calculator)
These figures are provided for reference and are kept separate from the annual-leave calculation above. Each is cited to a specific Labour Law article.
🤒
Sick Leave
Up to 120 days per illness-year (counted from the first day of sick leave): 30 days full pay, then 60 days at three-quarters (75%) pay, then 30 days unpaid. Not deducted from annual leave.
Corrects a common "half pay" claim
Labour Law Article 117
👶
Maternity Leave
12 weeks full pay (amended from 10 weeks in August 2024): 6 weeks mandatory after delivery, remaining 6 weeks flexible, may start up to 4 weeks before the expected date. Extendable by 1 month unpaid. An extra paid month is available if the newborn is sick/has special needs (conditions apply).
Updated 2024 figure — not 10 weeks
Labour Law Article 151 (as amended)
👨👶
Paternity, Marriage & Bereavement
3 days paid for the birth of a child; 5 days paid for the worker's own marriage; 5 days paid for the death of a spouse, ascendant or descendant; 3 days paid for the death of a sibling (added by the 2024 amendment).
Broader than a flat "3 days" figure
Labour Law Article 113
🕌
Hajj Leave
10–15 days (inclusive of the Eid Al-Adha holiday), once per employment period, after at least 2 consecutive years of service. Not deducted from annual leave and does not affect end-of-service gratuity.
Secondary sources — see note below
Labour Law Article 114
⚠️ Sourcing note: Annual leave (Art. 109), unused-leave payout (Art. 111) and sick leave (Art. 117) figures above were checked against HRSD's own published guidance. Maternity (Art. 151), marriage/bereavement (Art. 113) and Hajj leave (Art. 114) figures come from converging legal-commentary sources citing those articles rather than a document we fetched directly from hrsd.gov.sa. If any of these figures are critical to a real decision, confirm the current wording with HRSD/Qiwa or a licensed Saudi employment-law adviser before relying on them.
🗓️ Public Holidays (Separate From Annual Leave)
Every worker has a right to paid leave on designated Eid holidays and occasions — this is separate from, and not deducted from, annual leave.
| Holiday | Duration | How the date is set |
|---|
| 🌙 Eid Al-Fitr | 4 days | Starts the day after 29 Ramadan, per the Umm Al-Qura (Hijri) calendar |
| 🐑 Eid Al-Adha | 4 days | Starts from the Day of Arafah, per the Umm Al-Qura (Hijri) calendar |
| 🇸🇦 Saudi National Day | 1 day | Set by the Umm Al-Qura (Hijri) calendar — not a fixed Gregorian date |
We removed "Founding Day" and a claim that working a holiday earns double pay or a day off in lieu — we could not verify either in official HRSD guidance. Exact Gregorian dates shift each year because these holidays follow the Hijri calendar; check HRSD or Qiwa for the confirmed dates closer to the time.
❓ Frequently Asked Questions
How many annual leave days do I get under Saudi Labour Law?
Article 109 sets a minimum of 21 days per year, rising to a minimum of 30 days per year once you have completed 5 consecutive years with the same employer. These are minimums — your contract can offer more, but not less.
Do weekly rest days and public holidays count against my annual leave balance?
Based on converging legal commentary on Article 109 (we could not locate a single official clause stating this explicitly), weekly rest days and official/religious holidays falling within a period of annual leave are not deducted from your annual-leave balance. This point is not from a directly verified gazette clause, so treat it as well-supported but not 100% certain, and confirm with HR for your specific contract.
Can I get paid instead of taking my annual leave?
Not while you remain employed — Article 109 states leave may not be waived or exchanged for a cash allowance during service. You only become entitled to a cash payment for unused leave under Article 111 if you leave your job (resignation, termination, or contract end) before using it.
How is unused annual leave paid out when employment ends?
Under Article 111, the payout is based on your final actual wage (basic wage plus regular allowances such as commissions, hazard pay, cost-of-living increases and customary bonuses — not one-off discretionary bonuses). This calculator converts that monthly wage to a daily rate by dividing by 30, which is a common convention, not a figure we found written into the leave article itself, so we label it an estimate.
Does annual leave accrue proportionally if I haven't completed a full year?
Yes. Official HRSD guidance confirms a worker is entitled to leave pay for parts of a year in proportion to time actually worked. This calculator applies that proportionally using your exact employment start date and the date you choose to calculate as of.
Can my employer postpone or carry forward my annual leave?
Yes, within limits. An employer may postpone leave past its due year for up to 90 days if work requires it. Extending the postponement further requires the worker's written consent, and the total postponement cannot extend beyond the end of the year following the year the leave was originally due.
Is sick leave the same as annual leave?
No, they are separate entitlements under different articles. Sick leave (Article 117) provides up to 120 days per illness-year: full pay for the first 30 days, three-quarters pay for the next 60 days, and unpaid for the final 30 days. It is not deducted from your annual leave balance.
Where do I go if my employer disputes my leave balance or payout?
File a complaint through the
Qiwa portal (qiwa.sa). HRSD will attempt mediation first; unresolved disputes are escalated to the Labour Courts. Keep written records of your start date, leave requests, approvals and any postponements, since exact accrual and wage-base figures are ultimately confirmed by your employer's payroll records, not by this estimator.
How many annual leave days do I get after 5 years in Saudi Arabia?
Once you complete five consecutive years with the same employer the statutory minimum rises from 21 to 30 days per year. The increase applies from the anniversary date forward, not retroactively, which is why this calculator splits the service period into a pre-anniversary segment at 21 days and a post-anniversary segment at 30 days.
Can my employer refuse my annual leave request?
The employer schedules leave according to work requirements and may postpone it, but leave cannot simply be cancelled indefinitely, and it cannot be exchanged for cash while you remain employed. If leave is repeatedly deferred, ask for the carry-forward balance to be confirmed in writing on your payslip or HR system.
Is annual leave paid in advance in Saudi Arabia?
It is common practice for the wage covering an annual leave period to be paid before the leave starts, and many contracts state this explicitly. Check your own contract wording, since the timing of the payment is a contractual point rather than something this calculator can confirm.
Do sick leave and Hajj leave affect my annual leave balance?
They are separate statutory entitlements with their own rules and are not deducted from the annual leave balance. This tool estimates annual leave only; the other leave types are summarised in the reference section above for context.
📖 Official Sources & Legal Articles
- Article 109 — annual leave entitlement (21/30 days), advance payment, no cash substitute during employment, employer scheduling rights, 30-day advance notice. Verbatim text corroborated across multiple independent Saudi legal-commentary sites. Confidence: high (article text quoted consistently across sources)
- Article 110 (postponement) — employer may postpone leave up to 90 days past its due year; further postponement needs written employee consent; total postponement capped at the end of the year following the due year. Sourced from HRSD's published "الثقافة العمالية" (Labour Culture) guide, hrsd.gov.sa. Confidence: high (official HRSD document, directly fetched)
- Article 111 — payment for unused leave upon leaving employment, based on the worker's final actual wage. Confidence: medium-high (consistent secondary legal commentary; exact gazette wording not independently re-verified)
- Article 113 — 5 days' paid leave for marriage; 5 days for death of a spouse, ascendant or descendant; 3 days for death of a sibling (2024 amendment). Confidence: medium (converging secondary sources)
- Article 114 — Hajj leave, 10–15 days once per employment period after 2 consecutive years of service. Confidence: medium (converging secondary sources; not independently re-verified against the gazette text)
- Article 117 — sick leave: 30 days full pay, 60 days at three-quarters pay, 30 days unpaid. Sourced from HRSD's Labour Culture guide and corroborated by independent legal commentary quoting the article verbatim. Confidence: high
- Article 151 (as amended) — maternity leave increased from 10 to 12 weeks, effective under a Royal Decree announced August 2024 and published in Umm Al-Qura. Confidence: high (multiple independent news and legal sources, consistent figures and effective date)
- hrsd.gov.sa — Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development, primary regulator for the Labour Law.
- qiwa.sa — official portal for labour complaints, contract verification and mediation requests.
⚠️ For qualified review: the exact day-count convention an employer's payroll system uses for partial-year accrual, whether a "leave year" runs from your work anniversary or the calendar year, and the precise divisor used to convert monthly wage to a daily rate for Article 111 settlements are not fixed by a single published formula we could verify. This calculator discloses its own conventions clearly below each result — treat any figure here as an estimate, and confirm exact amounts with HR, Qiwa, or a licensed Saudi employment-law professional before relying on them for a real decision.