He stays two hours late every day "because the work never ends," and at month's end finds a line on his payslip: "extra effort allowance: SAR 300." It looks generous — until you run the legal formula and discover his statutory due was over 900. Overtime in Saudi Arabia is not a discretionary bonus; it is a right with an exact mathematical formula in Article 107. This guide gives you the formula, worked examples, and the claim steps if it is not applied.

Key takeaways:

  • Legal working hours: 8 per day or 48 per week, reduced in Ramadan for Muslim workers to 6 daily and 36 weekly.

  • Everything beyond that is overtime, and all hours worked on Eid and official holidays count as overtime in full.
  • The Article 107 formula: overtime hour = hourly wage + 50% of the basic hourly wage — not always "your wage × 1.5."
  • Overtime may not exceed 720 hours per year without your consent.
  • After the recent amendments, overtime may — with your consent — be compensated with paid leave instead of money.
  • No more than 5 consecutive working hours without a break of at least half an hour, and no more than 12 hours at the workplace per day.

The baseline: how many hours can they work you?

Article 98 caps actual working hours at 8 per day or 48 per week. In Ramadan, for Muslim workers, that drops to 6 daily or 36 weekly.

Two rest rules govern the day (Article 101):

  • You may not work more than 5 consecutive hours without a break of at least half an hour for rest, prayer, and food.
  • You may not remain at the workplace more than 12 hours in a single day.

Breaks do not count as working hours — a shift from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. with a one-hour break equals 8 actual working hours, which is fully legal.

What counts as overtime?

Three clear cases:

  1. Every hour worked beyond 8 per day (or beyond the reduced Ramadan hours).

  2. Every hour beyond 48 per week where hours are computed weekly.
  3. All hours worked on Eid and official holidays — overtime from the first minute.

The formula: Article 107, verbatim

The law obliges the employer to pay, for each overtime hour:

the hourly wage + 50% of the basic hourly wage

And here lies the most common and expensive mistake: many — including some HR departments — assume it is always "hourly wage × 1.5." In reality:

  • If your pay is all basic with no allowances: the two formulas coincide (1.5 × hourly wage).
  • If you earn basic + allowances: the results differ, because the 50% applies to basic only, while the first component uses your actual wage.

Computing your hourly wage

By the widely applied method: hourly wage = monthly wage ÷ 30 days ÷ 8 hours.

Example 1 — basic-only salary (SAR 6,000):

  • Hourly: 6,000 ÷ 240 = 25.
  • Overtime hour: 25 + 12.5 = SAR 37.50.
  • 20 overtime hours a month = SAR 750.

Example 2 — basic 6,000 + allowances 2,000 (actual 8,000):

  • Actual hourly: 8,000 ÷ 240 = 33.33.
  • 50% of basic hourly: 12.5.
  • Overtime hour: 33.33 + 12.5 = SAR 45.83.
  • 20 overtime hours = SAR 916.67.

Note: had the company paid "1.5 × basic" only, you would get 750 instead of 916.67 — a SAR 166 monthly gap, nearly 2,000 a year on just 20 hours a month.

The annual cap and the leave alternative

  • Your total overtime may not exceed 720 hours per year, and that cap can only be exceeded with your consent.

  • Following the recent amendments, the employer may — with the worker's consent — grant paid compensatory leave in lieu of overtime pay. It is conditional on your agreement, not a unilateral company decision.

Note: the law exempts limited categories from working-hours provisions, such as senior positions with real authority and certain jobs of a special nature — if you hold a leadership role, check your job's classification before claiming.

Not paid? Claim in this order

  1. Document first: fingerprint/attendance records, emails assigning the overtime, and hour logs. An undocumented claim is a limping claim.

  2. Demand in writing from HR, with the formula and the numbers — one organized email resolves most cases.
  3. File with the labor dispute settlement office via the Ministry of Human Resources if ignored.
  4. Labor Court via Najiz if settlement fails — labor claims are free of fees, and remember: claims are not heard after 12 months from the end of the employment relationship.

Your salary is not one number at month's end — it is a system of rights, each with its own formula. Learn them in the labor-law rights guide, compute your end-of-service award with the same rigor, and if you are weighing a new offer, read the salary negotiation guide before signing.