The employment contract and Qiwa attestation:mandatory clauses and renewal

Written and in two copies

Article 51 says the employment contract should be written in two copies, one for each party. The contract is still valid if it was never written down.

In that case, only the employee can prove the contract and their rights under it, and they can use any kind of evidence to do so. Either party can ask at any time for the contract to be put in writing.

An employer relying on a verbal agreement is most exposed on the wage, the contract type, and the probation period, the three points most often disputed.

What the unified template requires

Article 52 requires the ministry to issue a unified template for each type of employment contract. At a minimum, it must include:

1. 01The employer's name and location.
2. 02The employee's name and nationality, what is needed to establish their identity, and their address.
3. 03The agreed wage including benefits and allowances.
4. 04The type of work, its location, and the start date.
5. 05The term of the contract where it is fixed-term.
6. 06The essential rights and obligations of each party.

The wage in the contract governs every later calculation

The wage in the contract is more than a reference figure. End-of-service gratuity, leave pay, and payment in place of notice are all calculated from it, and the wage protection file is checked against it every month.

It is clearer to split the wage in the contract into basic pay and fixed allowances than to give a single figure, because many entitlements are calculated only on basic pay plus fixed allowances.

Record any later change to the wage in an addendum, not a message. Otherwise the old wage stays on the official record while a different amount is paid, which is one of the most common causes of wage protection flags.

Fixed-term and indefinite

A fixed-term contract ends when its term runs out. Neither side gives notice, and the gratuity is paid in full. Ending it early without lawful cause means paying compensation for the rest of the term.

An indefinite contract can be ended by either side with notice. The resignation scale in Article 85 applies to this type of contract.

A contract with a non-Saudi employee is always fixed-term. If it does not state a term, the term is one year from the employee's actual start date. If work continues after that, the contract is treated as renewed for the same period. It never becomes an indefinite contract, even if both sides agree.

Electronic attestation and what it changes

Attestation is done online from the employer's account. The employer enters the employee's main details and the contract details, including job title, wage, working hours, and the nature of the role. Both parties then approve it.

Once attested, the terms and their date are on record with an official body. A dispute about what was agreed no longer comes down to interpretation, which helps the employer as much as the employee.

Attestation also connects the contract to the employer's other obligations. Its data appears in the wage file and in the employer's account, and any difference from what actually happens shows up as a flag.

Renewal and advance notice

If both parties keep working under a fixed-term contract after it expires, it is treated as renewed for the same period. That is why you need to know the end date before it arrives.

If you only find out a month later that a contract has expired, you no longer get to decide whether to renew it. Advance alerts for contract, Iqama, and probation expiry let you make those decisions in time.