You hired well, the household runs smoothly, and a year has gone by. Then the quiet question arrives: should you raise her salary, and by how much? Saudi Arabia sets no legal annual raise for domestic workers, so the decision is yours, and that freedom cuts both ways. Handle it fairly and you keep a worker who already knows your home and your children. Handle it carelessly and you risk losing her to a family that offered a little more.
This guide is for employers who already have a domestic worker, whether a housemaid, nanny, cook or caregiver, and want to get pay right over the long term. It covers when to consider a raise, how much is fair against the 2026 market, whether an Eid bonus is expected, how the end-of-service award grows the longer she stays, and the honest math of keeping a good worker versus recruiting a new one. Where a figure is a market range rather than a fixed rule, we say so, and we link the official sources so you can confirm anything yourself.
Does Saudi law require an annual raise?
No. The Regulation for Domestic Workers, issued by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development, is silent on salary increases. The wage is whatever you agreed in the Musaned contract, and no rule forces you to raise it each year. Raises are a retention tool, not a legal duty.
What the regulation does fix are the things around the wage: a weekly paid rest day, paid annual leave, the end-of-service award, and payment through the approved electronic channel. The Ministry of Human Resources (HRSD) publishes the framework, and we summarise it in our guide to domestic-worker rights and employer duties. A raise sits on top of all that, at your discretion.
When to think about a raise
Because nothing is scheduled by law, choose sensible moments rather than waiting to be asked:
- At the end of the probation period, once you know the match works.
- On the work anniversary, the most natural yearly checkpoint.
- At contract renewal, when you are re-committing for another term anyway.
- When the market has clearly moved, for example after her nationality’s going rate rises.
- When she takes on more: a new baby, an elderly parent to care for, or a larger home.
Tying a raise to a clear moment makes it feel earned and keeps expectations calm the rest of the year. Offering it before you are asked almost always lands better than conceding it under pressure.
What a fair raise looks like
Anchor the decision to three things: her performance over the year, how long she has been with you, and where her pay sits against the current market for her role and nationality. Use the bands below as a sanity check, then confirm live figures with our Salary Index. These are typical monthly ranges paid through licensed Musaned offices, not government-set minimums.
| Nationality | Housemaid (SAR/month) | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Filipina | 1,500 – 2,000 | Highest band; the Philippine embassy sets a SAR 1,500 floor |
| Indonesian | 900 – 1,500 | Recruitment reopening from 2025 |
| Indian | 800 – 1,400 | Higher for driver/cook roles |
| Sri Lankan | 800 – 1,400 | Nannies at the top of the range |
| Kenyan / Ugandan | 700 – 1,100 | Caregiver roles a little higher |
| Ethiopian | 600 – 1,000 | Lowest expectations |
There is no general legal minimum wage for migrant domestic workers, so treat these as market reality, not a rule. A simple way to size a raise is to think in terms of where she sits in her band rather than a fixed percentage:
| Tenure and performance | Where to aim |
|---|---|
| First year, meets expectations | Hold, or a small token gesture |
| 1–2 years, solid and reliable | A clear step up within her nationality band |
| 2–4 years, strong and low-supervision | Toward the upper half of the band |
| 4+ years, trusted and hard to replace | Top of the band or a small premium to retain |
Whatever you decide, keep it proportionate to your budget and consistent year to year, so the arrangement stays predictable for both sides.
Is an Eid bonus expected?
There is no legal Eid or thirteenth-month bonus for domestic workers. Many families still give something at Eid, a month’s pay or a smaller gift, as goodwill and a retention gesture. It is genuinely appreciated and entirely your choice, so frame it that way rather than as an entitlement.
Two other gestures are common and effective beyond Eid: a small completion bonus when she finishes a two-year contract and renews, and an occasional performance bonus after an unusually demanding stretch, such as a new baby or a house move. One practical point for 2026: pay any bonus through the approved electronic salary channel like the rest of her pay, so the record stays clean.
The end-of-service award: the number that rewards staying
The strongest retention incentive is written into the regulation itself. Under Article 22, when the contract ends a domestic worker is entitled to an end-of-service award of one month’s wage for every four consecutive years of service, calculated on her last salary, and paid in full when the relationship ends.
A common myth online is that the award is one month’s salary per year, or one month per year after two years. That is the general Saudi Labour Law formula for company staff, not the domestic-worker regulation. For domestic workers the figure is one month per four consecutive years, based on the last wage. Article 22 is the rule.
| Last salary | Years of service | Award |
|---|---|---|
| SAR 1,200 | 4 years | about SAR 1,200 |
| SAR 1,500 | 4 years | about SAR 1,500 |
| SAR 1,500 | 8 years | about SAR 3,000 |
| SAR 2,000 | 12 years | about SAR 6,000 |
For periods that fall between the four-year steps, confirm the exact figure with our gratuity calculator or through the ministry. Two related points: dues are settled within one week of the contract ending (two weeks if the worker was the one who terminated, Article 23), and if either side ends the contract without a legitimate reason, the other is owed two months’ wages in compensation (Article 25), separate from the award. The award can only be withheld in the narrow cases in Article 26, such as a serious breach that continues after a written warning.
Retain or re-hire? The real math
When you weigh a raise against “just find someone new,” put the true replacement cost on the table. Recruiting a fresh worker means the Musaned recruitment fee (capped by nationality), 15% VAT on that fee, a separate government visa fee of about SAR 2,000, and four to eight weeks with no help while you wait. The current official recruitment-cost ceilings are:
| Nationality | Recruitment ceiling (SAR, ex-VAT) | Roughly, with 15% VAT |
|---|---|---|
| Philippines | 14,700 | about 16,900 |
| Sri Lanka | 13,800 | about 15,870 |
| Bangladesh | 11,750 | about 13,510 |
| Kenya | 9,000 | about 10,350 |
| Uganda | 8,300 | about 9,545 |
| Ethiopia | 5,900 | about 6,785 |
Add the roughly SAR 2,000 government visa fee on top, plus the weeks of disruption. A worked example: replacing an Ethiopian worker at the SAR 5,900 cap is about SAR 6,785 with VAT, plus the SAR 2,000 visa, so close to SAR 8,800 before you count the downtime. For a Filipina at the SAR 14,700 cap, the all-in is well over SAR 18,000. Against that, a raise of one or two hundred riyals a month is small. For the full year-one picture, our real cost of hiring a domestic worker breakdown and the salaries-by-nationality guide put these numbers in context. In most cases, keeping a proven worker is the cheaper decision by a wide margin, before you even count the value of trust with your children.
How to pay a raise, and keep it clean
Since 1 January 2026 every employer must pay a domestic worker’s salary through the approved electronic channel via Musaned, so a raise is simply a higher transfer from that point on. Our insurance and e-salary setup guide explains the mechanics if you have not set it up yet. The steps are short:
- Agree the new amount with the worker and note it in a short written addendum to the Musaned contract.
- Pay the new figure through the electronic salary channel from the next cycle.
- Keep paying on or before the due date; a clean electronic record protects you at Iqama renewal and in any dispute.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Waiting to be asked. A raise you offer lands far better than one you concede under pressure.
- Quoting the wrong end-of-service formula and then under- or over-paying at exit. It is one month per four years, not per year.
- Paying a raise or bonus in cash off the record, which breaks the 2026 e-salary rule and leaves you exposed.
- Treating the market rate as a floor you must always match, rather than one input alongside tenure and performance.
- Forgetting that the end-of-service award is quietly accruing, so “she is expensive to keep” is rarely true once you price replacement.
The bottom line
No law makes you raise a salary or pay a bonus in Saudi Arabia, which is exactly why doing it thoughtfully is such an effective retention tool. Benchmark against the market, reward tenure, remember that the end-of-service award is quietly building in the worker’s favour, and compare any raise against the real cost of replacing her. If you are still weighing your options, browse verified caregivers to see current market pay, or check a fair figure in the Salary Index.
