Article 146 of the Saudi Labor Law

Article 146 of the Labor Law addresses the position of workers who perform their work in places far from populated areas, where the services a worker finds in cities are usually not available. Because a worker at these sites cannot easily obtain his needs by himself, the article transfers the burden of providing them to the employer, at its own expense.

The services the article mentions are:

• Shops selling food, clothing and necessities at moderate prices, in work areas where such shops are not usually found.
• Suitable recreation and cultural means and sports fields attached to the workplaces.
• Suitable medical arrangements to maintain workers' health, with comprehensive treatment of their families. By the text of the article, the family here means the spouse, children, mother and father residing with the worker.
• Schools to educate workers' children if there are not enough schools in the area.
• Mosques or prayer rooms at the workplaces.
• Literacy programs for workers.

It is important to note that the article does not impose all these services automatically in every case; the text says the employer is obligated to provide all or some of them as the Minister determines. Also, deciding what counts as a place far from populated areas is left to the Implementing Regulations, and the article itself sets no specific distance or standard for this.

This article complements what Article 147 provides, which requires the employer in places far from populated areas, and in mines, quarries and oil exploration centers, to provide housing, camps and meals, with the Minister determining their conditions and what the worker bears in return. Article 147 covers housing and food, while Article 146 covers the other aspects of daily life: shopping, treatment, education, worship and recreation. Both come within Part Eight on health and social services, after Article 145, which permits establishing a savings fund with workers' voluntary participation.

If a worker is at a site far from populated areas and the employer has not provided the services the Minister has set for this category, he can review the details in the Implementing Regulations and ministerial decisions, and can consult a lawyer specialized in labor cases to find out what applies to his situation.