If you employ a maid, driver, cook, gardener or nanny in the Kingdom — or if you are one of the millions of household staff working here — the rules for end-of-service pay are not the ones most people quote. The familiar Articles 84 and 85 formula that governs private-sector employees does not apply to domestic work. Household staff sit under a separate set of regulations, and the entitlement is structured differently. This guide explains the end of service benefits for household workers in Saudi Arabia in plain terms: who counts as a domestic worker, what the commonly applied reward is, how it works for expatriate and OFW staff, and what to do if the payment is withheld.
Because domestic-worker rules differ from the main Labour Law and are updated periodically, treat everything below as a general explanation and confirm the current terms directly with the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development (HRSD) before relying on any figure.
Calculate an end-of-service estimate →
Are household workers covered by Articles 84–85?
No. This is the single most important point, and it is where a lot of confusion begins. The Saudi Labour Law — including the two-tier end-of-service formula in Articles 84 and 85 — expressly does not extend to domestic and household workers. Those provisions cover private-sector employees, and our main guide to how end of service is calculated in Saudi Arabia walks through that formula in detail.
Household staff are instead governed by a separate set of regulations for domestic workers issued by HRSD. These rules deal with the specifics of live-in and household employment — working hours, rest days, wages, repatriation and the end-of-service entitlement — and they are distinct from the private-sector Labour Law. So when you read that a leaving employee earns "half a month per year for the first five years," that figure belongs to the Labour Law and not to domestic work. For domestic workers end of service Saudi Arabia, the entitlement is set out under the separate domestic-worker regulation, and it takes a different form entirely.
The commonly applied end-of-service reward
Under the domestic-worker rules, a common end-of-service entitlement is a bonus or reward of one month's wage once the worker completes a defined period of continuous service — a rule that has been widely applied after four years of service. Rather than the accruing, tiered award that private-sector staff receive, this is a single reward tied to reaching that service milestone. It is the figure most often quoted for housemaid end of service Saudi arrangements, and it applies equally whether the worker is a maid, driver, cook, gardener or nanny.
The table below sets out who is generally treated as a domestic worker and how the commonly applied reward plays out across a few scenarios. Read it as a guide to the shape of the entitlement, not as a promise of a specific amount — the exact terms sit with HRSD and can change.
| Situation | Who it covers | Commonly applied outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Household roles | Maids, drivers, cooks, gardeners, nannies | Covered by domestic-worker rules, not Articles 84–85 |
| Reaches the service milestone | Worker completing the defined period (widely applied as 4 years) | Reward of one month's wage |
| Leaves before the milestone | Worker with shorter continuous service | Reward not yet triggered — confirm the contract terms |
Two things follow from this. First, the contract matters as much as the regulation: it should record the wage, the start date and any agreed terms, and it is the document you will lean on if a dispute arises. Second, because these rules are periodically revised, you should confirm the current terms with HRSD before treating the one-month, four-year rule as final. What was applied last year is not automatically what applies today.
OFW and expatriate domestic workers
A large share of household staff in the Kingdom are expatriates — including many overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), as well as workers from other countries. If you are looking into OFW end of service benefits, the framework is the same: your entitlement is governed by your employment contract together with the domestic-worker regulation, not by Articles 84 and 85.
Why nationality doesn't change the rulebook
Being an OFW or an expatriate does not move you into the private-sector Labour Law, and it does not exempt you from the domestic-worker rules. What determines your end-of-service reward is the nature of the work — household service — and the contract you signed. For OFWs, the contract processed at recruitment often sets out wage, duration and repatriation terms, so keep a copy alongside your wage records. The word "gratuity for domestic workers Saudi" is often used loosely to describe this reward, but it is not the same statutory gratuity that private-sector employees accrue; it is the domestic-worker reward described above.
Because our on-site calculator is built on the private-sector Articles 84–85 formula, it is only an approximate reference for household staff — the underlying rules genuinely differ. If you want a rough sense of scale you can still use the Saudi end-of-service calculator, but treat the output as a ballpark rather than the domestic-worker figure, and rely on the domestic-worker regulation and your contract for the real entitlement.
What to do if your reward is unpaid
If the reward is due and the employer does not pay, household workers have a route to raise it. Disputes over domestic-worker entitlements are handled through HRSD, which operates dedicated channels for domestic-labour complaints separate from the general private-sector process. Raising the matter there is the first step; keep it factual and bring your paperwork.
Evidence decides these cases, so hold on to your employment contract and your wage records — proof of what you were paid and when. The contract establishes your role, your start date and the agreed wage; the wage records show the pattern of payment and help establish continuous service toward the milestone. Because the domestic-worker rules differ from the Labour Law and are periodically updated, confirm the current entitlement with HRSD before you file, so your claim reflects the rule in force rather than an older version of it. Going in with a clear contract, tidy wage records and the correct current rule gives any complaint the best chance of a quick resolution.