Observation (CEACR) - adoptée 2024, publiée 113ème session CIT (2025)

Arabie saoudite

Convention (n° 1) sur la durée du travail (industrie), 1919 (Ratification: 1978)
Convention (n° 30) sur la durée du travail (commerce et bureaux), 1930 (Ratification: 1978)
Convention (n° 106) sur le repos hebdomadaire (commerce et bureaux), 1957 (Ratification: 1978)

Legislative developments. Articles 8(2) of Convention No. 1, 11(3) of Convention No. 30, and 10(2) of Convention No. 106. Law enforcement and penalties. The Committee notes the entry into force of the Ministerial Decision No. 75913 of 3 December 2023, which increases the number of categories of establishments eligible for paying lower penalties and significantly reduces the amount of fines applicable in the event of violation of the provisions on working time with respect to Ministerial Decision No. 92768 of 3 December 2021. The Committee emphasizes the importance of ensuring that effective mechanisms are in place to guarantee compliance with working-time provisions, primarily through labour inspection and the application of dissuasive penalties for non-compliance (2018 General Survey on working-time instruments, paragraph 876). The Committee requests the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure that the penalties established in the national legislation for working-time violations (whether they are of an administrative, civil or penal nature) are sufficiently dissuasive to deter violations and are defined in proportion to the nature and gravity of the offence. The Committee also requests the Government to communicate information on the number and nature of penalties (administrative, civil, and penal) assessed and collected. It also refers to its comments made under the Labour Inspection Convention, 1947 (No. 81).

Article 6(2) of Convention No. 1 and Article 7(3) of Convention No. 30. Limits on additional hours of work. The Committee notes that in response to its previous comments, concerning the yearly limit of 480 hours of overtime established by the Ministerial Order No. 2832 of 2006, the Government indicates in its report that section 106 of the Labour Law provides that in case of temporary exceptions the effective hours of work, including overtime, shall not exceed 10 hours a day and 60 hours a week. It also indicates that it is doing its best to examine the Committee’s comments in consultation with relevant bodies and the social partners when undertaking any amendments to labour regulations and statutes, while taking into account the developments which occur in the labour market. The Committee regrets to note that the Implementing Regulations of the Labour Law and its Annexes, issued by Ministerial Decision No. 70273 of 20 December 2018, present in the official website of the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development, provides in its section 22 for a yearly overtime limit of 720 hours, which may be increased with the worker’s consent. The Committee recalls once again that the maximum number of additional hours, while not specifically prescribed in the Conventions, must be kept within reasonable limits in line with the general goal of the instruments to establish the 8-hour day and the 48-hour week as a legal standard for hours of work in order to protect against undue fatigue and ensure reasonable leisure and opportunities for recreation and social life (2018 General Survey on working-time instruments, paragraph 119). Consequently, the Committee requests the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure that both in law and in practice the limits to overtime are reasonable.

The Committee is raising other matters in a request addressed directly to the Government.