RIYADH — The Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development (MHRSD) has clarified that assigning an employee an unreasonable basic wage — whether too low or too high — will trigger violation alerts under Saudi Arabia's Wage Protection Program. According to the program's latest compliance guide, such wages will appear as alerts in the employer's violations record on the Mudad platform if deemed illogical when compared to other recorded data. The ministry said alerts will also be generated in cases where salary deductions exceed 50 percent of a worker's wage or if a worker's basic wage has not been recorded on Mudad for more than 90 days. Additional violations include failing to enter the basic wage in designated fields, failing to pay the wage, or lacking any record of wage disbursement. The ministry further stated that inspection visits will be initiated if private sector establishments delay submitting their wage protection files by more than 20 days. The Mudad platform, which manages payroll compliance, will automatically submit a request to the Inspection Department to visit noncompliant companies. The procedure begins once wages are due. Mudad sends a first reminder to the employer, followed by a second notification after 10 days. A final warning is issued on the 15th day. If no file is submitted within 20 days, an inspection request is triggered. Mudad also clarified that employers have 10 days to justify delayed salary payments. Employees then have three days to accept or reject the justification in the system. If no response is received from the employee, the system will automatically process the employer's explanation. Under existing ministry regulations, companies that delay salary payments for two months will face a suspension of all services except for issuing and renewing work permits. If the delay exceeds three months, all services will be suspended. Employees will also be allowed to transfer to a new employer without the current employer's consent, even if their work permit remains valid.
