Penalties for Breach of Contract....???

It has really been frustrating for me to find an answer to a simple question. It is more than a month I have been trying all "KEYWORDS" for an online search to get to the fact. However, it seems to be an uphill task to find clarity on an ambiguity in Saudi Arabian Labor Law.

It struck my mind, today, that may be I was trying wrong options and that is the reason I am writing, as a matter of fact for the first time, on "Expat.com". At least I will know for sure how much help "Expat.com" can be in times of need. Before I pose the question I would quote relevant Clause from the Saudi Arabian Labor Law which is regarding the subject:

"Article 74

If the contract is cancelled for no valid reason, the party who is prejudiced by such cancellation shall be entitled to an indemnity to be assessed by the competent Commission, provided that such assessment shall take into account actual and contingent material and moral prejudice suffered by such party. In the case of the workman, such assessment shall take into account the nature of the work, the period of service, the workman's age, the pay he was receiving, the family burdens he shoulders, the extent to which his income from his new job is lower than the income from his old job, the degree of arbitrariness of the discharge decision, the extent to which this decision affects the workman's reputation, and any other conditions and concomitant circumstances in accordance with the rules of equity and current generally accepted practice."

Now the simple question is:

"How much will I have to pay towards my employer in case I want to resign from my job as a sandwich artist with a fast food chain of restaurants in eastern province?"

The person, who this situation is related to, is not happy and feels depressed with his current role though he reluctantly signed for the same and is into the job for around 5 months.

I hope I find some help from this blog and my anticipated gratitude goes to those who contribute.

Best regards,

Ishfaq Shah

I think it would depend on the company. As for my experience, I was hired as a nurse for a private hospital (Dr. Bakhsh) under a sub-contractor (Al Majal), 2 years contract and I resigned after a year. The cost of my iqama and visa were deducted from my last pay, and I paid for my plane ticket.

Thanks Lina,

How did your employer respond to your resignation? Were they annoyed or they were just fine with it?

Thanks once again

No, they didnt give me a hard time, I left them with a good reputation. I had a valid reason, my daughter needs me back home, she was just 1 yr old that time. The Nursing Director even offered me just to take a vacation and they'll hire me directly when Im back with a higher salary. But I guessed I was not ready for expat life that time, that was in 2002.

As @lina0574 said above, if you want to go for an early termination of your contract, you may have to pay:

1- All expenses on your visa endorsements (if you were brought in from your home country).
2- Air tickets etc
3- Other minor induction charges

Thanks for your inputs.
How much could it in monetary terms? Is there a guideline somewhere which is binding in this regard or is it completely at the discretion of the employer..?

Generally, you won't find guidelines online almost about anything in KSA :), your contract must have a clause addressing early termination.

Here is the back-of-the-envelope calculation:
- 2,000 SAR is the government fee of visa.
- Some service charges, labor card charges -- say 2,000 SAR adding buffers
- Add on top on that the air fare estimate.

TLL is right, no guidelines so meaning to say no standards, they can basically let you pay for every cents that they have spend on you.

I think these amount (pre-recruitment expenses) would help you, for you to have a rough estimate of how much would you pay to the company.

Visa Cost: SR 2000 for 2 years
Iqama Fee: SR 650 for 1 year
Work Permit Fee: SR 2,500 for 1 year
Airfare Charges: (it depends)
Agency Fees: (if any)

The abovementioned amount are being used in our company, I don't know if it applies to your company too. And of course it will be deducted from whatever claims/amount you'll get from your company.

Good luck!

how is your problem now? is it solve already?... How much did you pay? i have also almost the same problem as yours but its not me got this problem but its my husband.


My husband started working in KSA last February 5 2014.. there company have always delayed salary, and the accomodation is not good as it was stated in the contract.. He is planning to be home as he turned 1 year by the next 5 days of this month. He ask from the company if how much is he going to pay if he will not continue the contract of two years, his company told him that he is going to pay 5k SR which cost here in the philippine almost 75 thousand pesos, after 3 days he inquired again and he was told by the company that according to there new guideline, the payments for breach of contract will be increased and it will be 10k SR already or it cost here in Phil for almost 150,000.00 in which i think this is too much.
Is there anybody can help me where to seek help for this problem??
i am desperate to seek help from the embassy and afraid that my husband will be put into a situation that may cause him to stay in saudi and force to end up his contract. He felt already depression and really wanted to go home,,,
Please need advises from Expat.comgers...
thanks a lot

Please contact your Overseas Filipino Workers association, they will help you out with the situation and extend legal help as well.

what is the penalty of the employer if they breach the contract of their employees?

Nothing, you just bite the bullet and live with it....

madam, i just want to ask how much would i pay for not completing my conttract here at riyadh ksa?? im a service crew of a restaurant and im planning to go home because of personal family problem that affects my duties and responsibiliets in my work place?
thank you

mam, i have a question? in my case ive been working here in riyadh as a service crew of a restaurant and im planning to resign.?how much i would pay to my employer ? im working here for only 5 months..is it allowed or not? i want to go home and i cant continue my job because of personal family problem that affects my duties and responsibilities. thank you for response.

sir, i have a question. how long would be processing the exit visa? and is it okay if my arabic name in my iqama is mispelled and wrong? do i need to change and correct it before i go exit or not??thank you for response.

Wow..you are lucky

Hi,
I am from india currently working in Saudi Arabia from last 26 sep 2016, I came here on Labor visa which was provided by my company and my profession is Data entry clerk/Scanning operator, my probation period is Of 6 month and 5th month is running just want to know if I will resign from my job how much do I have to pay,.Because of my family problem, my little sis is in hospital and her condition is very critical but my company is not allowing me to go so  I have decided to resign from here...
Thanks

Hi my problem is I am only 5 months here in my company but I want to go home because of family problem I was already resigned and my Bo's was already sign it but until now my Bo's not giving me exit visa instead he going me to transfer another company..
My questions is should I sign another contract for another company? If I will not sign what happen?
He ask me for payment for all his expenses before I came here what should I do? My resignation that have already his sign is a valid reason for me to go in a court because until now he did not send me to my origin..thanks

Good day to all. I just want to ask something about what happened to me last Tuesday in Khobar Saudi Arabia

My kafeel send me back quickly in Philippines this Tuesday without any reason

That's my first time worked in alkhobar Saudi Arabia for 1 year and 3 months in beauty salon but suddenly they send me back in Philippines last Tuesday

In my contract it was stated there that if an employee terminates the contract he shall shoulder all the expenses relative to his repatriation back to his origin. The expenses were not specifically written there. Now that I already filed my resignation and was called for an interview, they told me to pay them. I told them I can only pay for my air ticket and final exit visa but they insisted me to pay them otherwise I will be sent to monisiya or if I will not pay I cannot go home. Can I get some advice on this matter.. thank you!

Hello everyone. I'm a nurse here in saudi and currently, i really want to go back to the philippines because of depression. Depression due to my fellow filipino nurses who are constantly talking behind my back. And i dont have anyone who i can talk to. I started working here last june. Is it alright if i will resign even though i've only been here for about 3 months? I'm really really depressed right now. By the way, we didnt sign a contract yet for this clinic.

Dear
This common if some one making problem but you have to fight not to run

hi how are you? did u already submit ur resignation? how much r u gonna pay?

Hello!In total how much riyals did u pay?. Pls help me. I'm also working as a nurse and planning to resign.thank u so much.

how was it?

lina0574 wrote:

I think it would depend on the company. As for my experience, I was hired as a nurse for a private hospital (Dr. Bakhsh) under a sub-contractor (Al Majal), 2 years contract and I resigned after a year. The cost of my iqama and visa were deducted from my last pay, and I paid for my plane ticket.


lina, what is the content of your resignation letter?

:(

yejin wrote:

Hello everyone. I'm a nurse here in saudi and currently, i really want to go back to the philippines because of depression. Depression due to my fellow filipino nurses who are constantly talking behind my back. And i dont have anyone who i can talk to. I started working here last june. Is it alright if i will resign even though i've only been here for about 3 months? I'm really really depressed right now. By the way, we didnt sign a contract yet for this clinic.


Hello,

Concerning about your post, I think there will be a penalty for Nurse's who did not finish their contract.

AFAIK!

It is a tough decision!

You should always read your contract before signing it!

The new Saudi labor law states that the PROBATION PERIOD is 180 days! Hence for as long as you can prove that you havent completed 180 days with your current employer ... YOU ARE FREE TO LEAVE! Now, please note, you will pay for your exit visa and return ticket to your home country.

Visit any labor office or call their toll free number 19911 ... they have employees who speak English, Arabic, Urdu, Bangla and Tagalog

JoeyCCBC wrote:

The new Saudi labor law states that the PROBATION PERIOD is 180 days! Hence for as long as you can prove that you havent completed 180 days with your current employer ... YOU ARE FREE TO LEAVE! Now, please note, you will pay for your exit visa and return ticket to your home country.

Visit any labor office or call their toll free number 19911 ... they have employees who speak English, Arabic, Urdu, Bangla and Tagalog


Correction here, probation period is 90 days and can be extended upto 180 days only once employer gives it in written.

Penalties apply, air ticket and your iqama fees if leaving without finishing contract. if u didn't sign contract, I believe nobody holds you from leaving. If you came here to work, maybe u signed an agreement which is like a contract...be careful.

I want to share my current situation and experience right now. I have resigned from my company and they want me to pay the remaining balance of my contract which is 6 months from a 24 months contract. - Fixed Term.

My reason for leaving is family problem back home. Based on the Saudi Labor Law for fixed term contract, the party who terminated the contract is required to pay the other for the remaining balance of the contract which in my case is 6 months.

So I have seeked the help of my embassy and they told me there's a high chance that I will lose the case against my employer in court since it is really in the labor law.

In my case, I was even hired locally so my company didn't had to spend much on my hiring.

Here are what confusing me right now:

1. Does the payment for the remaining balance of the contract will be based on basic salary or the total salary being received?

2. What if the worker who wants to resigned cannot pay the remaining balance of the contract? Will he be forced to continue working?

I am about to ask an advice from the Labor Office itself and I will update this thread.

im facing the same today...in pass my r.letter to the office, and now waiting for their reply on how much will i have to pay for bridging my contract to them...but in my signed contract in ther terms and condition no.12 indcates that i need to pay for the visa witch is 2000sar + the company expences with the anount of 2000ssr too so allnin all is 4000sar...then from whatni heard from some coworker with a high position is that the our company will as me to pay 8000sar or higher?...is that really ok for them to do even if the papers they give and i signed only says 4000sar?...

Hi currently I have the same issue, I am 'bout to breach my contract after 6 months wich is 6 months earlier. What I want to ask,  is there any standard numbers (%) of penalty that I need to pay? As the policies is not stated in my contract.

I said to them i will go home because of my baby hes ine year old only and he needs me my employer said dont be afraid i will send you home its okay ..something like that ..i dont know what will they do to me?is anybody can help me to my question.if its true that i will pay for my agency because i dont know the truth.

I am a domestic helper here in saudi arabia im just turning two months . I said to my employer that i want to go home because of my baby he needs me and i think i cant do this anymore im just first time i felt im dying because its so hard to work as a domestic helper 😭😭😭 is anybody can help to answer my question. My employer said if you want to go home its okay you are protected by the govern ment dont be afraid.i dont know the truth but i trust them and they are kind but i dont know .im super depressed i dont know what to do😭😭