Ramadan working hours in Saudi Arabia, including for non-Muslims

During Ramadan, Muslim employees in the Saudi private sector may work no more than 6 hours a day or 36 hours a week. That is Article 98 of the Labor Law. The reduction is written for Muslims, so non-Muslims keep the normal limit of 8 hours a day or 48 a week, unless their employer gives shorter hours to everyone. If you work past the limit, the extra time is paid as overtime, which you can work out in the Saudi overtime calculator.

The rule: 6 hours a day or 36 a week for Muslim workers

Article 98 of the Saudi Labor Law sets the general working-time limits, then adds the Ramadan exception: during the month of Ramadan, actual working hours for Muslims are reduced to no more than 6 hours a day if the employer uses a daily standard, or 36 hours a week if it uses a weekly standard.

Three points follow from the wording:

• The limit is on actual working hours. Breaks are not counted (see below).
• The employer chooses between a daily and a weekly standard. A weekly 36-hour schedule can be spread unevenly, as long as the week stays within 36 hours.
• The limit is a maximum. An employer can give fewer hours, but not more without paying overtime.

Do non-Muslims get reduced hours?

The law does not give them a reduction. Article 98 says the reduction is “for Muslims”, and nothing else in the Labor Law extends it to other workers. A non-Muslim employee therefore stays on the normal limit of 8 hours a day or 48 a week during Ramadan.

In practice many employers announce shorter Ramadan hours for the whole workforce. Reasons include shared shifts, client opening hours and keeping teams together. That is company policy, not a legal right. If your employer has published Ramadan hours that apply to all staff, they bind the employer like any other workplace rule. If it has not, the law alone does not shorten your day.

Normal limits outside Ramadan: 8 a day or 48 a week

Outside Ramadan, Article 98 limits actual working hours to 8 a day on a daily standard, or 48 a week on a weekly standard. The law allows limited exceptions for certain kinds of work, which are set out in the following articles and the regulations.

Your weekly rest day, Friday by default under Article 104, comes on top of these hours. It is fully paid and cannot be swapped for cash.

Working beyond the Ramadan limit: is it overtime?

Article 107 pays overtime at your hourly wage plus 50% of your basic hourly wage. It also says that hours worked beyond the weekly standard count as overtime when the employer uses a weekly standard. Applying the same logic to the Ramadan limit, hours a Muslim worker spends beyond 6 a day (or 36 a week) are overtime.

That reading is consistent with the text, but we have not found a ministry statement that addresses Ramadan overtime directly. Two practical consequences:

1. Keep a record of your Ramadan start and finish times. Overtime disputes are mostly about evidence.
2. The hourly basis is not spelled out. Our calculator divides your monthly wage by 30 and then by the normal daily hours you enter. The law does not say whether an employer should use the Ramadan schedule (6 hours) or the normal one (8 hours) to find the hourly wage. Using 6 gives a higher hourly figure, so ask your employer which basis it applies.

Worked example

A Muslim employee earns SAR 10,000 a month, of which SAR 6,000 is basic. Their normal day is 8 hours, but in Ramadan they keep working 8 hours instead of 6, for 20 working days. That is 2 extra hours a day, or 40 hours in total.

You get the same result by entering SAR 10,000, SAR 6,000, 8 normal hours and 40 regular overtime hours in the overtime calculator. To use a 6-hour basis instead, enter 6 as your normal daily hours.

For how the formula works on Eid and rest days, which often fall right after Ramadan, see overtime on Eid and Fridays in Saudi Arabia.

What to ask your employer before Ramadan

Most Ramadan disputes come from assumptions, not from the law. Before the month starts, it helps to have written answers to these questions:

• What are the Ramadan working hours, and do they apply to all staff or only to Muslim employees?
• Is the schedule on a daily or a weekly standard?
• If you are asked to stay beyond the Ramadan hours, will the extra time be paid as overtime or given back as time off?
• Which hourly basis (6 or 8 hours) does payroll use for Ramadan overtime?

Rest, prayer and meal breaks (Articles 101 and 102)

Article 101 (as amended in 1436H) sets the shape of the working day, and Article 102 says how breaks count:

• No worker may work more than 5 consecutive hours without a break for rest, prayer and meals (Art. 101).
• Each break must last at least half an hour (Art. 101).
• A worker may not stay at the workplace for more than 12 hours in one day (Art. 101).
• Breaks are not counted as actual working hours, the worker is not under the employer’s authority during them, and the employer cannot require the worker to stay at the workplace during them (Art. 102).

So a Ramadan day of 6 actual hours plus a prayer break can last longer than 6 hours on the clock without breaking the law.

Ramadan hours in other Gulf countries

Each Gulf country sets its own Ramadan hours. Some put them in the labour law, while others announce them by ministerial decision each year.

We have not given hour figures for Qatar, Kuwait, Oman or Bahrain because we could not confirm them against an official source for the current year.

Calculate Ramadan overtime

Enter your total wage, basic wage, normal daily hours and the extra hours you worked in the Saudi overtime calculator. It shows your hourly wage, your overtime rate and the total. For working hours, rest days and leave in one place, read our Saudi labour law guide.

Frequently asked questions