Saudi Gazette, 8 April 2026: The Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development has commenced the second phase of making notarised employment contracts legally enforceable, expanding direct wage enforcement rights for workers under fixed-term agreements.

The initiative had been introduced after labour authorities had identified persistent delays and inefficiencies in resolving wage disputes through traditional court procedures. Previously, employees were required to pursue lengthy administrative and judicial routes to claim unpaid salaries.

In the second phase, fixed-term contracts are now eligible to be treated as enforceable documents once updated or renewed. Employers and employees must notarise or update relevant contracts via the Qiwa platform and obtain an enforcement number from the Ministry of Justice’s Documentation Center.

If an employee has not received full wages within 30 days of the due date, or only partial wages after 90 days, they can file an enforcement request through the Najiz platform. The employer then has five days to raise an objection before enforcement action begins. This avoids traditional court filings and accelerates recovery of due wages.

Background: the first phase, launched in October 2025, already allowed newly notarised contracts to be directly enforceable. The third phase will extend the regime to open-ended contracts, completing the rollout.

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