Article 33 of the Saudi Civil Service Law

المادة 33 من نظام الخدمة المدنية · الباب الثالث: أحكام عامة وانتقالية

Article 33 prohibits appointing an employee to more than one post.

Official text (Arabic)

This article has not been amended since the law was issued.

لا يجوز تعيين الموظف على أكثر من وظيفة واحدة.

This is the official Arabic wording, the only legally binding version. We do not translate the law itself; the explanation below is ours. Official source: Bureau of Experts at the Council of Ministers

Article 33 explained in plain English

This article sets a short and decisive rule: an employee may not be appointed to more than one post. An employee subject to the Civil Service Law occupies only one post and is not appointed to a second post at the same time.

What the text means:

The prohibition is directed at appointment; that is, an appointment decision that would make the employee the holder of two posts may not be issued.
The rule is absolute in the text, and the article mentions no exceptions to it.
The rule concerns the employee, that is, someone who occupies a post subject to the Civil Service Law.

What the article does not address: it does not speak of work in the private sector or practicing a liberal profession, nor of assigning the employee temporary additional work; these are matters this text does not deal with, and they cannot be judged on its basis alone.

The practical effect of the article is that a government entity does not issue an appointment decision for an employee who holds an existing post to another post alongside it, and that an employee's taking up another post does not take place by combining it with his current post.

Anyone offered a second government post while still in his job may consult a lawyer specializing in administrative and civil service cases to understand his position.

Practical example

Khaled is an employee at a ministry in Jeddah, and he is offered a vacant post at another government entity while staying in his current post. Under this article, he may not be appointed to both posts at once; if he wants the new post, his appointment to it must replace his current post, not be added to it.

Translated from our Arabic explanation with machine assistance. For guidance only; it does not replace advice from a lawyer on your situation.

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