Health Jobs Regulation

Purpose and scope

• Regulates health jobs held by Saudi civilians in all government bodies, except university faculty (Article 2), covering appointment, promotion, working hours, on-call duty, pay, allowances and supervisory assignments.
• The Civil Service Law and its regulations apply where it has no provision (Article 15).

Key rules, rights and obligations

• Jobs are filled under the qualifications guide attached to the regulation (Article 3); appointment to a higher class requires a last appraisal of at least good (Article 4).
• Promotion to the next level requires using up the level's increments, at least a year at its top step, and appraisals of at least very good for the last two years, with exceptions for a new qualification or training programme (Article 5).
• Working hours are 176 a month, plus on-call duty of up to 8 hours a week; consultants and heads of department may be on call for at most 10 days a month (Article 7).
• After 24 consecutive hours of work, rest is given the next day; on-call duty beyond the limits is compensated with equal rest or overtime pay (Article 7).
• The transport allowance may be combined with two or more listed allowances, such as full-time, isolation, hazard and remote-area allowances, provided the total does not exceed 90% of the level's minimum salary (Article 11).

Violations, penalties and common problems

• Common problems: excess on-call hours left uncompensated, and supervisory assignments running beyond the permitted period.
• Some allowances were abolished and later restored by decisions noted in the official file's footnotes, so check them when claiming.

Procedures and key deadlines

• A supervisory assignment requires the necessary qualification, 3 years' experience in the field and a very good appraisal in the last year (Article 12).
• A supervisory assignment lasts at most 3 years, renewable for 3 more, after which a new one is possible only after two years (Article 12).
• Transfer to a non-health job follows the transfer regulation (Article 6).

An advisory summary prepared by Al-Bayan Al-Wadih Law Firm. It is not an official text and does not replace the law, its implementing regulations, or advice from a specialised lawyer. The official published text and its amendments prevail.