Marriage, bereavement, newborn, and Hajj leave:durations and conditions

Article 113 leave

Article 113 gives leave on full pay for certain events, for these lengths of time:

1. 01Five days on the employee's own marriage, or on the death of a spouse, ascendant, or descendant, counted from the date of the event.
2. 02Three days on the death of a brother or sister, likewise counted from the date of the event.
3. 03Three days on the birth of a child, taken within seven days of the birth.
4. 04The employer can ask for supporting documents for these events.

Full pay, with documents required

This leave is on full pay and is not deducted from the annual leave balance. Each type is separate, with its own rule.

The employer can ask for documents showing the event happened, such as a marriage contract, birth certificate, or death certificate. Asking is the employer's right and is not an obstacle to the leave.

So the request is approved once the document is checked, not after judging how much the employee needs the time. The length is fixed, and the event either happened or it did not.

Hajj leave

An employee is entitled to paid leave to perform Hajj of at least ten days and no more than fifteen, including the Eid al-Adha holiday. This is given once during their whole employment, and only if they have not performed Hajj before (Article 114).

They must have completed two continuous years with the employer. The employer can limit how many employees get this leave each year, based on the needs of the work.

A common mistake is forgetting that Eid al-Adha is included. Someone who takes ten days, four of them during Eid, has not used ten extra days.

Iddah leave

A Muslim female employee whose husband dies is entitled to Iddah leave on full pay for four months and ten days from the date of death. If she is pregnant, she can extend it without pay until she gives birth.

This is the longest of these leaves. Because the dates are easy to get wrong, it should be set up as a leave type in the system, not worked out by hand each time.

What never comes out of the annual balance

One general rule settles most disputes here: any leave the law provides for specifically is not deducted from the annual leave balance.

Sick leave, maternity leave, the Article 113 leaves, Hajj, Iddah, Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha, National Day and Founding Day are all separate. The annual balance is not touched.

An employer that deducts any of them from annual leave takes the entitlement away twice: once as the special leave, and again by cutting a balance the employee never used.

Managing them in practice

Unlike annual leave, special leave does not build up over time. It depends on an event. There is no yearly balance for marriage leave, only an entitlement that starts when the event happens.

A leave system that gives each type its own rule, asks for the right document when the employee applies, and records the leave in the employee file prevents both wrong deductions and repeat requests for the same event.