Saudi employers must pay domestic workers via bank transfer

• Cash payment banned by law
• Up to 4m domestic servants in Saudi
• Transparency to wages and remittances

Saudi Arabia has started enforcing a law requiring all employers to pay their domestic workers through banks or an online government platform. 

At the start of 2026, the country announced the full enforcement of the law, affecting all Saudis and foreigners employing domestic servants.

The move followed rules introduced in early 2025 that required employers with at least four domestic workers to pay wages through banks rather than in cash. The requirement was later widened, first to households employing three workers and, a few months later, to those with two.

“This step represents a qualitative leap in regulating the contractual relationship between employers and domestic workers by documenting wage payments and enhancing transparency through electronic transfers via banks and digital wallets approved on the Musaned platform,” the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development said on its website on January 1.

Nationalities of Saudi migrant residents

The Musaned platform provides employers in Saudi Arabia with domestic labour recruitment services including visa issuing.

At least 4 million domestic servants are estimated by the ministry to be working in Saudi Arabia, mostly Ethiopians and non-Arab Asians from the Philippines, India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Indonesia.

Saudi Arabia and other Gulf nations have often been criticised over incidents involving mistreatment of domestic workers by their employers, such as failure to pay wages on time, enforced long shifts and lack of leave periods.

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“This is a very good decision because it will put an end to violation of the rights of domestic servants in the kingdom. It will guarantee the rights of both the employers and the housemaids,” said Jamal Banoun, manager of the Riyadh-based SMS economic consulting centre.

Experts said the rules will also cut labour disputes in the country, regulate domestic labour and identify their income sources.

“I believe transferring maids’ salaries to banks will also upgrade transparency in employers’ payments for their employees. It also determines the exact sources of funds remitted by the domestic servants to their home countries,” said Klhalid Al-Shanaibar, a Saudi human resources expert.