Article 69 of the Saudi Labor Law
المادة 69 من نظام العمل · الباب الخامس: علاقات العمل
Article 69 gives the employer two deadlines: to accuse a worker of a violation within 30 days of discovering it, and to impose the disciplinary sanction within 30 days of the investigation ending and the violation being established.
Official text (Arabic)
This article has not been amended since the law was issued.
لا يجوز اتهام العامل بمخالفة مضى على كشفها أكثر من ثلاثين يومًا، ولا يجوز توقيع جزاء تأديبي بعد تاريخ انتهاء التحقيق في المخالفة وثبوتها في حق العامل بأكثر من ثلاثين يومًا.
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 69 explained in plain English
Article 69 of the Labor Law places a time limit on the employer's power to discipline the worker, so that a violation does not hang over the worker for a long time to be used against them whenever the employer wishes. The article contains two separate deadlines:
- The deadline for accusation: a worker may not be accused of a violation if more than 30 days have passed since its discovery. What counts here is the date the violation was discovered, not the date it occurred; if the violation occurred months earlier and was only discovered now, the period runs from the date of discovery.
- The deadline for imposing the sanction: after the worker has been investigated and the violation established against them, the disciplinary sanction must be imposed within 30 days of the date the investigation ended and the violation was established. If this period passes without the sanction being imposed, imposing it is no longer permitted.
The practical benefit of this rule is that it gives the worker stability; the employer's silence after learning of the violation, or its delay in issuing the sanction after it is established, forfeits its right to discipline for that violation.
This article is linked to other articles in the part on disciplinary sanctions:
- Article 68 prevents making a sanction more severe because of a repeated violation if 180 days have passed from the date the worker was notified of the sanction for the previous violation; it is another time limit, but relates to repetition and not to accusation.
- Article 70 sets the limits of the sanction itself: a worker may not be disciplined for something outside the workplace unless it is connected with the work, a fine for a single violation may not exceed 5 days' wage, more than one sanction may not be imposed for a single violation, and deducted fines or the period of suspension from work without pay may not exceed 5 days in the month.
If a sanction is imposed on the worker after either of the deadlines in Article 69 has passed, they may rely on this article when objecting to the sanction, and it is advisable to consult a labor lawyer to assess their position precisely.
Practical example
On 1 March, a department manager at a company in Dammam discovered that worker Khalid had been absent from a work shift without permission two weeks earlier. The company did not notify Khalid of any accusation until 15 April, more than 30 days after the violation was discovered; here he may not be accused of it under Article 69. In another case, the company investigated his colleague Saad over another violation and the investigation ended with it being established on 10 May, but the company did not issue the sanction decision until 20 June, so the sanction was issued after the 30-day period from the violation being established had passed, which the article does not permit.
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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Active contributorFrequently asked questions about Article 69 of the Saudi Labor Law
Within what period may a worker be accused of a violation under the Saudi Labor Law?
Under Article 69, a worker may not be accused of a violation more than 30 days after its discovery, and the period is counted from the date the violation was discovered, not the date it occurred.
May an employer impose a disciplinary sanction at any time after the investigation?
No. Article 69 requires the sanction to be imposed within 30 days of the date the investigation into the violation ended and it was established against the worker, and if this period passes the sanction may not be imposed.
What is the difference between the 30-day period in Article 69 and the 180-day period in Article 68?
The two periods in Article 69 relate to the timing of the accusation and the timing of imposing the sanction for the same violation, while Article 68 prevents making a sanction more severe because of a repeated violation if 180 days have passed from the date the worker was notified of the sanction for the previous violation.
What can the worker do if a sanction is imposed on them after the statutory deadline?
They may rely on Article 69 when objecting to the sanction, because the Law does not permit imposing it after the deadline has passed, and it is advisable to consult a labor lawyer to assess their case.
More articles on Disciplinary Penalties
- Article 12Amended (1436 AH)
Article 12 directs the Ministry to prepare one or more unified models of the work organization regulation covering benefits, violations and disciplinary penalties, and to set controls and mechanisms for approving these regulations.
1 - تضع الوزارة نموذجاً موحداً - أو أكثر - للائحة تنظيم العمل، على أن يكون شاملاً لقواعد تنظيم العمل وما يتصل به من أحكام، بما في ذلك الأحكام المتعلقة بالميزات
- Article 13Amended (1436 AH)
Article 13 requires every employer to prepare a work organization regulation according to the Ministry's model, allows adding provisions that do not conflict with the law, and requires the regulation and its amendments to be announced to workers.
1 - يلتزم كل صاحب عمل بإعداد لائحة لتنظيم العمل في منشأته وفق النموذج المعد من الوزارة، ويجوز للوزير الاستثناء من ذلك. 2 - يجوز لصاحب العمل تضمين اللائحة شروطاً
- Article 63
Article 63 requires the employer and anyone with authority over workers to prevent any substance forbidden by Sharia from entering the workplace, and penalizes anyone found with it or using it.
على صاحب العمل أو وكيله أو أي شخص له سلطة على العمال، منع دخول أي مادة محرمة شرعًا إلى أماكن العمل، ويطبق بحق من وجدت لديه أو من تعاطاها العقوبات المقررة في هذا
- Article 65
Article 65 sets six basic duties of the worker: performing the work skillfully per lawful instructions, caring for the employer's tools, good conduct, helping in emergencies, undergoing medical examination, and keeping the establishment's secrets.
بالإضافة إلى الواجبات المنصوص عليها في هذا النظام واللوائح والقرارات الصادرة تطبيقًا له، يجب على العامل: 1 - أن ينجز العمل وفقًا لأصول المهنة ووفق تعليمات صاحب
- Article 66
Article 66 sets out exhaustively the six disciplinary sanctions an employer may impose on a worker, from a warning to dismissal in the cases set in the Law.
الجزاءات التأديبية التي يجوز لصاحب العمل توقيعها على العامل: 1 - الإنذار. 2 - الغرامة. 3 - الحرمان من العلاوة أو تأجيلها لمدة لا تزيد على سنة متى كانت مقررة من
- Article 67
Article 67 prohibits an employer from imposing any disciplinary sanction on a worker unless it is stated in the Labor Law or in the establishment's work organization regulations.
لا يجوز لصاحب العمل أن يوقع على العامل جزاءً غير وارد في هذا النظام أو في لائحة تنظيم العمل.
The texts are reproduced from the official website of the Bureau of Experts at the Council of Ministers for reference; where they differ, the officially published Arabic text prevails. This content is not legal advice.