The third and final phase of Saudi Arabia's "Documented Employment Contract as an Enforceable Instrument" initiative took effect on 6 August 2026, extending the framework to indefinite-term employment contracts — the category covering most permanent private-sector staff. The initiative is run jointly by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development (HRSD) and the Ministry of Justice, and previously covered only new contracts and fixed-term contracts at renewal.
The practical consequence: the wage clause in any employment contract documented on the Qiwa platform is now an enforceable instrument. An employee can execute it directly through the Ministry of Justice's Najiz platform, without filing a case before the labour courts.
Key Highlights
- All contracts are now in scope. Phase one (6 October 2025) covered new and updated contracts, phase two (6 March 2026) covered fixed-term contracts at renewal, and phase three (6 August 2026) covers indefinite-term contracts.
- The wage clause receives an execution number. Once both parties approve the contract on Qiwa, the wage clause is assigned an execution number enabling direct enforcement through Najiz.
- Verification is automatic via Mudad. The employee needs no supporting documents; payment records are checked electronically against the Mudad platform and the Wage Protection System.
- A short objection window. Employers have five days from official notification to object to an enforcement request.
Details
The framework defines the wage clause as the basic wage, housing allowance, transportation allowance, and the total of other cash allowances where applicable. The updated Qiwa contract template requires a full wage breakdown — including GOSI social insurance contributions, the net wage, and the monthly payment date — and supports up to 27 additional contractual clauses.
An employee can file an enforcement request on Najiz if wages are not received within 30 days of the due date, or in cases of partial payment after 90 days. The claim is matched automatically against actual payment data recorded in Mudad.
Impact
Any gap between the wage recorded in a Qiwa contract and the amount actually paid through the Wage Protection System is no longer just a documentation issue — it is direct enforcement exposure. Employers should now:
- Reconcile Qiwa contracts against actual payroll line by line: basic wage, allowances, and payment date.
- Validate WPS files before submission — the free WPS file validator catches format and amount errors before they become violations.
- Automate reconciliation between HR systems and government platforms — see our guides on integrating HR systems with Qiwa and Mudad payroll integration.
For engineering teams building internal systems, our hands-on guide to the Najiz enforcement APIs covers handling enforcement requests programmatically.
Background
The initiative launched on 6 October 2025 with the stated goal of speeding up labour dispute resolution and strengthening trust in the labour market, built on the technical link between Qiwa, Najiz and Mudad. It extends a digitisation path that began with the Wage Protection System and contract documentation, progressively turning payroll data from internal records into obligations subject to direct judicial execution.
What's Next
With all three phases complete, Qiwa documentation and Mudad payroll reconciliation are now the first line of defence for any establishment. Companies still running payroll on manual files disconnected from their documented contracts carry a direct legal risk that automation can remove.
If your organisation needs to connect its HR or payroll system to Qiwa, Mudad and Najiz, contact us for a free diagnostic session to review your integration setup.
Source: Saudi Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development