Saudi Arabia is implementing the new Job Discipline Law from Sunday, a move that comes as part of the Kingdom's efforts to modernize and develop laws, with a view to protecting the public service, ensuring the regular functioning of public agencies and the effective performance of employees.

All employees are subject to it, except those who work under regulations in which a penalty is regulated by special rules and is dealt with in accordance with those regulations.

New regulations :

In accordance with law, it is necessary to investigate the employee, hear his statements, and confront him with violations before imposing a penalty, and this occurs in a report, and the decision to impose the penalty is justified, as long as one or more committees are created in each government agency to study violations.

- The system prohibits occupying the position of someone against whom a judgement or decision has been issued to discharge from service, whether through appointment or contract, promotion or transfer, unless the decision has been protected by the expiration of an appeal deadline or the judgement has become final.

An employee who is proven to have committed a financial administrative or behavior violation breaches one of his job responsibilities and is subject to the penalty stipulated by law, without prejudice to the right to file a public right lawsuit or a private right lawsuit.

Sanctions :

Article 6 specifies the punishment that may be imposed on the employee, which is a written warning, a deduction from salary, not exceeding the net salary for three months, provided that the deduction is not more than one third of the net salary.

- Failure to consider his promotion within two years of receiving his promotion entitlement or his dismissal from service, as well as the requirement of one annual bonus.

Exemption from Penalty :

According to Article 7, the employee may be exempt from the penalty if he can prove that he committed the violation as a result of an order issued by his superior, as opposed to the employee notifying the superior in writing or by any other method accepted by law.

Under Article 8 of the Job Discipline Law, in cases other than death or total disability, termination of the employee's service does not prevent him from taking the measures specified in the law or continuing to take them. A fine of not more than three times the last month's salary, he received, shall be assessed in this case.

SOURCE : SAUDI EXPATRIATES