Saudi Arabia 2024 Labor Law Updates: What’s New fo...

AlanoudAlasaud · ‎2025 Jun 04

Focus of this blog

In response to the 2024 updates to Saudi Arabia’s Labor Law, SAP continues its commitment to delivering compliant and streamlined HR solutions tailored to local legal requirements. As part of this effort, we have implemented key configuration updates in SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central (EC) to reflect the latest legal mandates.

1. Probation period

Business Needs:

Based on recent labor law changes, the probation period for regular employees will now be 180 days from the hire date.
The probation period will be extended if any holidays or sick leave occur during this time.

1.1. Now let's implement the first part “default 180 days”

First, use the date field in Job Information to capture the end of the probation period based on the employee’s hire date.

| Notes:

Check the field using Manage Business Configuration > Job Information > Take Action.
Don’t forget to assign this field to the appropriate role via Manage Permission Roles.

Next, reuse the business rule “DefultProbationEndDateHire” and modify it to default the date to 180 days from hiring

Default Probation End Date Hire Business rule snapshot

| Note: this rule can be found under latest Saudi Arabia Best Practice

And this what you will get

1.2. So how to extend the probation period?

As per Saudi labor law, if an employee takes sick leave during the probation period, or if any part of their probation period overlaps with official public holidays, the probation period will be impacted. In such cases, the duration of the probation must be extended accordingly.

To accommodate this, we need to implement several configurations in the system to automatically extend the probation period in the following scenarios:

If the employee requests or takes sick leave during the probation period.
If any part of the probation period falls during an official public holiday.

1.2.1. Leave of Absence “Sick” for extending Probation period

For better solution we advise to create new event reason for sick leave in probation period to be recorded in job info once employee raise a request

Assign the appropriate event reason in the Leave of Absence Event Reason (Plan) field, which can be found under the Sick Leave time type configuration settings.

| Note:

it is recommended to create a specific sick leave type for employees in their probation period. This will help:
Easily identify and monitor sick leave taken during probation.
Ensure the correct adjustment of the probation period.

| Note: before we start creating this business rule make sure that you configured the holiday calendar

1.2.2. Extend Probation Period: sick leave and Holiday Calendar business rule:

Scenario Type: Trigger onSave for HRIS Elements
Base Object: Job Information Model
Rule Trigger: When a Job Information record is saved or updated

Case 1: No Leave of Absence

Company = your legal entity
Holiday Calendar = SAU_HOLIDAY_CAL
No leave of absence return date

Set Probationary Period End Date = Hiring Date + 180 + Holidays

Case 2: Employee Returned from Leave

Company = your legal entity
Holiday Calendar = SAU_HOLIDAY_CAL
Leave of absence return date is present

Set Probationary Period End Date = Hiring Date + 180 + Holidays + Sick Leave Days

Let’s test, just hire new employee

| Note: This rule should be triggered OnSave under Job Information in Business Configuration tool so it will calculate the probation period end date in case you edit and save the data

One more test, create a Sick leave request

Now check the Job Information update history

| Note: You have to set the actual return date after saving request , so the event reason (return from leave) will be activated.

2. Compassionate Leave Take Rule

Business Needs: Compassionate Leave Based on Relationship

As per the new Saudi labor law, Compassionate Leave entitlements must be granted based on the employee's relationship to the relative.

5 Days of Compassionate Leave are granted if the relative is: Spouse, Father, Mother, Son or Daughter.
3 Days of Compassionate Leave are granted if the relative is: Brother or Sister.

2.1. Required fields for validation

Create a specific field for selecting the relationship type if doesn’t exist.

| Note: Don’t forget to update the relationship picklist

2.2. Compassionate Leave Configuration Based on Relationship business rule :

Scenario: Absence Validation

Add if condition for the time type “Companionate Leave (SA-COMPA)”.

Here is the result:

3. Maternity Leave Validation

Business Needs:

According to the new Saudi labor law, a female employee is entitled to 12 weeks (84 days) of maternity leave, to be taken under specific conditions:

Pre-Delivery Period: The employee can request maternity leave before the delivery date. Minimum: 28 days / Maximum: 42 days.
Post-Delivery Period: The remaining portion of maternity leave must be taken after the delivery date. Minimum: 42 days / Maximum: 56 days.

3.1. Configure Expected Delivery Date

Create a specific field for selecting the Expected Delivery date

3.2 Maternity Leave Business Rule

Scenario: Absence Validation

Time Type: Maternity Leave (SA-MATER)

Validation:

Total leave duration (84 days)
Allowed pre-delivery period (between 28 and 42 days)

Case 1: if all conditions are correct system will proceed with the request

Case 2: If Expected delivery date Less than 28 system will drop an error

Case3: if Expected delivery date more than 42 system will drop an error

Case 4: If Maternity leave more than 84 system will drop an error

Takeaways

With the updates outlined in this blog, you are well-positioned to ensure compliance with the 2024 Saudi labor law changes in the area of Time Management. Additional implementation guidance covering other legal areas — including Violations and Sanctions — will follow shortly.

We encourage you to subscribe to SAP’s Regulatory Change Manager (RCM) to stay informed about future updates. As always, your feedback is invaluable — share your thoughts and suggestions to help us continuously shape and refine the best-fit localization solutions.