Saudi employers have two important Nitaqat salary changes to prepare for. From 25 April 2027, a Saudi employee will need a monthly wage of at least SAR 5,000 to count as one full Saudi worker for Nitaqat Saudization purposes. From 25 April 2028, that full-count threshold will increase again to SAR 6,000.
For employers, the change is not simply a payroll increase to budget for. It can change how individual Saudi employees contribute to the establishment’s Saudization percentage and, therefore, its Nitaqat position.
The most important step is to review Saudi employees by registered wage before each implementation date and identify who will move from a full count to a half count, or from a half count to no count, if their salary remains unchanged.
What Are the Saudi Nitaqat Salary Thresholds for 2027 and 2028?
The Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development is implementing the revised Nitaqat wage thresholds in two phases.
| Period | Counts as 1 Saudi Worker | Counts as 0.5 | Does Not Count |
|---|---|---|---|
| Current rule before 25 April 2027 | SAR 4,000 or more | SAR 3,000 to below SAR 4,000 | Below SAR 3,000 |
| From 25 April 2027 | SAR 5,000 or more | SAR 4,000 to below SAR 5,000 | Below SAR 4,000 |
| From 25 April 2028 | SAR 6,000 or more | SAR 5,000 to below SAR 6,000 | Below SAR 5,000 |
This means the effect is wider than simply changing the point at which an employee counts in full. Employers with Saudis positioned around SAR 4,000 or SAR 5,000 need to model how their workforce will be counted after each phase.
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Is SAR 5,000 or SAR 6,000 a New Minimum Wage for Every Saudi Employee?
No. This distinction is essential.
The new figures are minimum wage thresholds for determining how a Saudi employee is counted toward the establishment’s Saudization percentage under Nitaqat.
The Ministry has clarified that the change does not automatically require every private-sector establishment to increase every Saudi employee’s salary to SAR 5,000 in 2027 or SAR 6,000 in 2028.
An employer may continue to have a Saudi employee earning below the full-count threshold, subject to the applicable employment rules. The consequence for Nitaqat is that the employee may count as only half a worker or may not contribute to the Saudization calculation at all.
Employers therefore need to separate two questions:
- What salary is contractually payable to the employee?
- How much Nitaqat weight does that employee generate at that salary?
For workforce planning, the second question becomes increasingly important as the new thresholds take effect.
How Will Existing Saudi Employees Be Affected?
The easiest way to understand the change is to look at employees currently positioned around the existing thresholds.
Employee earning SAR 4,000
Under the current rule, this employee counts as one full Saudi worker.
From 25 April 2027, the employee would fall into the SAR 4,000 to below SAR 5,000 band and therefore count as half a worker.
If the salary were still SAR 4,000 on 25 April 2028, the employee would fall below the new SAR 5,000 minimum counting level and would no longer count toward the Nitaqat percentage.
Employee earning SAR 5,000
This employee will meet the full-count requirement when the first phase starts in April 2027.
From 25 April 2028, however, SAR 5,000 falls into the new half-count band. The employee would therefore count as 0.5 rather than one full worker unless the relevant wage reaches SAR 6,000.
Employee earning SAR 6,000
Assuming the employee otherwise satisfies the applicable Nitaqat requirements, a wage of SAR 6,000 meets the announced full-count threshold for both phases.
This is why employers should model both implementation dates now rather than adjusting their workforce only for April 2027 and repeating the exercise twelve months later.
Which Salary Figure Matters for Nitaqat?
Employers should not automatically use the employee’s headline gross package when reviewing the threshold.
HRSD’s Nitaqat guidance defines the relevant monthly wage by reference to the wage registered with the General Organization for Social Insurance (GOSI). GOSI’s contributory-wage rules generally include the basic wage and housing allowance, with certain commissions treated as basic wage for contribution purposes.
This creates an important payroll-control point.
An employee’s total employment package may include transport allowances, bonuses or other benefits, but that does not necessarily mean every payroll component forms part of the wage used for the relevant Nitaqat calculation.
Before deciding that a Saudi employee is above a threshold, HR and payroll teams should check the wage information maintained in GOSI and make sure it reflects the employee’s actual contractual salary structure.
Why the Change Matters Beyond Individual Salaries
Nitaqat does not assess compliance only by looking at one employee’s salary.
The program evaluates an establishment’s Saudization performance according to factors including its workforce and economic activity. Under Developed Nitaqat, the required localization levels are also being applied through the program’s updated framework for 2026–2028.
The salary threshold determines the weight of the Saudi employee in that calculation.
That means an establishment can keep exactly the same employees and still see its effective Saudization position change if some Saudi employees stop counting in full after the new wage threshold takes effect.
For example, a company heavily dependent on Saudi employees currently earning SAR 4,000 could see a significant reduction in its weighted Saudi headcount in April 2027 even though nobody has resigned.
Employers should therefore review the impact against their actual Nitaqat requirements in Qiwa rather than looking at salary levels in isolation.
What Should Employers Review Before April 2027?
The first phase gives employers a clear date to work toward: 25 April 2027.
A practical review should begin with a payroll census of all Saudi employees.
For each employee, identify:
- the wage currently relevant for Nitaqat counting;
- the employee’s current Nitaqat weight;
- the expected weight from April 2027;
- the expected weight from April 2028;
- employment category, such as full-time or another permitted arrangement;
- GOSI wage information;
- contractual salary information; and
- whether another profession-specific Saudization rule applies.
Once the employee-level review is complete, employers should recalculate the likely Saudization position of the establishment.
If salary changes are required as part of the workforce strategy, the changes should be properly reflected in payroll and relevant employment records rather than treated only as a Nitaqat adjustment.
How Should Payroll, GOSI and Qiwa Records Be Managed?
A Nitaqat salary change can involve more than changing one number in the payroll system.
Employers should maintain consistency between the employment arrangement, payroll records and the government systems relevant to the employee.
Qiwa workforce and employment records are closely connected with Saudization, employment contracts and establishment information, while GOSI maintains the contributory-wage data relevant to social-insurance records.
If the company decides to increase an employee’s salary, payroll should also calculate and record the revised salary correctly from the effective date.
The amount actually paid should remain consistent with wage-payment records. Employers using Saudi WPS should therefore include salary changes within their normal WPS and Mudad payroll controls rather than updating workforce planning separately from monthly salary processing.
Misalignment between payroll, contracts and government records can make it difficult for HR and finance teams to understand why an employee is being counted differently from their internal workforce forecast.
Do the New Thresholds Apply to Part-Time and Flexible Workers?
The Ministry has indicated that the change extends across categories including full-time employees, part-time employees, flexible-work employees, Saudi students working part-time and people with disabilities who are capable of working.
However, these categories are not automatically counted in exactly the same way as an ordinary full-time employee.
Special Nitaqat counting rules can apply depending on the employment category, including conditions relating to registration, social-insurance contributions and the permitted weighting of that employee.
Employers should therefore avoid assuming that paying every category SAR 5,000 or SAR 6,000 automatically produces one full Saudi employee for Nitaqat purposes.
The category-specific rules in force at the relevant implementation date should still be checked.
Check Profession-Specific Saudization Rules Separately
The general Nitaqat salary threshold is not the only localization rule that can affect Saudi payroll planning.
Saudi Arabia also has profession-specific Saudization decisions covering particular occupations and sectors. Those decisions can contain their own:
- Saudization percentages;
- establishment-size thresholds;
- implementation phases;
- professional requirements; and
- minimum salary conditions for a Saudi employee to count toward that specific localization decision.
An employer should therefore not assume that meeting the general SAR 5,000 or SAR 6,000 Nitaqat threshold automatically satisfies every occupation-specific localization rule.
HR teams should review both the establishment’s Nitaqat position and any separate ministerial decision applying to the roles they employ.
Payroll Budgeting for 2027 and 2028
The new thresholds should already form part of 2027 and 2028 workforce budgeting.
Employers generally have three issues to model:
- Salary cost: the additional payroll cost if wages are increased to maintain full Nitaqat counting.
- Employer on-costs: the effect a genuine salary increase can have on GOSI contributions and other salary-linked employment costs.
- Workforce composition: whether the establishment can still achieve its required Saudization position if some Saudi employees are counted at half weight rather than full weight.
The lowest-cost option is not necessarily to increase every affected salary. The appropriate approach depends on the establishment’s activity, workforce composition, Nitaqat position, recruitment plan and applicable profession-specific requirements.
For companies with a larger Saudi workforce, this modelling should be done employee by employee rather than using an average salary assumption.
Common Nitaqat Salary Planning Mistakes
Employers preparing for the new thresholds should avoid several common errors.
- Treating SAR 5,000 and SAR 6,000 as universal minimum wages. The announced change concerns Nitaqat counting.
- Checking only April 2027. An employee who remains fully counted at SAR 5,000 in 2027 becomes a half-count employee from April 2028.
- Using total package value without checking the relevant registered wage. Nitaqat wage calculations should be reviewed against GOSI wage records.
- Ignoring employees who currently earn SAR 4,000. These employees face the biggest immediate change in April 2027.
- Updating payroll but not connected workforce records. Salary amendments should be reflected consistently in the company’s employment and payroll data.
- Ignoring profession-specific Saudization rules. A separate localization decision may impose another salary or quota condition.
What Should Employers Do Now?
Employers do not need to wait until April 2027 to determine the impact.
Start by producing a list of all Saudi employees grouped into salary bands: below SAR 4,000, SAR 4,000–4,999, SAR 5,000–5,999 and SAR 6,000 or more.
Then calculate how each group will count under the current rule, from April 2027 and from April 2028.
Compare those weighted employee numbers with the establishment’s required Saudization position and identify where payroll changes, recruitment or workforce restructuring may be needed.
Companies managing a larger Saudi workforce may also benefit from integrating this review into their regular Saudi payroll processing and compliance controls, so salary changes, GOSI-related records, payroll calculations and wage-payment data remain aligned.
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Conclusion
The Nitaqat salary change creates two separate compliance-planning dates for Saudi employers: SAR 5,000 for full counting from 25 April 2027 and SAR 6,000 from 25 April 2028.
The change does not mean every Saudi salary must automatically be raised to those amounts. It means employers need to understand how each employee will count toward Saudization if their current salary remains unchanged.
The best preparation is to review Saudi salary bands now, model the establishment’s Nitaqat position for both phases and keep any resulting salary amendments aligned across payroll, GOSI and employment records. Businesses that need help managing these changes can use Payroll Middle East’s Saudi payroll services to support salary processing, employee payroll records and ongoing payroll compliance coordination.
