Most problems with a domestic worker are not about a bad worker; they are about unclear expectations. A household runs best when the worker knows exactly what is expected, when she gets proper rest, and when she is treated fairly. This guide gives you a practical framework: how to set a clear task schedule and house rules, the rights that bound those rules, and, crucially, the lawful and fair way to handle underperformance or a worker who is refusing to work.
It is written for employers managing a live-in or live-out worker day to day, whether newly arrived or long-serving. The aim is a calm home and a working relationship that lasts, without crossing any of the lines set by the Regulation for Domestic Workers.
Start with a clear task schedule
Ambiguity is the enemy. Rather than correcting things after the fact, agree from the start on what needs doing and how often. A simple weekly schedule, discussed together, prevents most friction and gives you a fair reference point if standards slip later. Here is a sensible template to adapt to your home:
| Area / task | Frequency | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Kitchen: dishes, surfaces, floor | Daily | After main meals |
| Bedrooms: beds, tidy, dust | Daily | Light tidy; deep clean weekly |
| Bathrooms | Every 2–3 days | Full clean weekly |
| Laundry & ironing | 2–3 times a week | Agree on delicate items |
| Floors: vacuum / mop | Daily living areas | Whole home twice weekly |
| Childcare / school run | Per agreed hours | Only if hired as a nanny |
| Deep clean (one room rotated) | Weekly | Windows, cabinets, behind furniture |
Adapt it to your home’s size and priorities, and revisit it if the household changes. In the first week, walk through the home together, show her how you like key tasks done, and agree the rest day and quiet hours up front. A few minutes of clear expectations at the start saves weeks of correction later.
Write the agreed duties into the contract so there is no doubt about the role. Our free contract generator produces a bilingual agreement you can use, and keeping duties within the contracted profession is not just good practice, it is required: a worker hired as a maid should not be sent out as a driver, for instance.
The rules you cannot break
Your house rules sit inside a legal frame. The Regulation for Domestic Workers gives the worker rights that no house rule can override, and knowing them keeps you out of trouble:
| The right | What it means | Common myth to drop |
|---|---|---|
| Weekly rest | One paid day off of at least 24 continuous hours (Art. 11) | “A day off is optional if I pay more” |
| Daily hours | Max 10 actual working hours; a break after 5 hours; 8 hours continuous rest (Art. 10) | “She is live-in, so she is on call all day” |
| Annual leave | 30 days after completing 2 years and renewing, plus a home flight (Art. 12) | “Leave is a favour, not a right” |
| Sick leave | Up to 30 days: first 15 full pay, next 15 half pay (Art. 13) | “No work, no pay from day one” |
| Passport & wages | Passport stays with her; pay is monthly and electronic (Art. 15, 18) | “Holding the passport keeps her from leaving” |
The full picture is in our rights and employer-duties guide. Set your house rules around these: quiet hours, phone use, days off, guests, all fine, provided the rest day, the hours, and her dignity are respected.
Use the probation window
The regulation allows a written probation period of up to 90 days (Article 9). This is your fair, built-in window to see whether the match works. Set clear standards at the start of it, check in during it, and either confirm the arrangement or part ways cleanly before it ends. A worker cannot be put on probation twice for the same role with the same employer.
When performance slips: a fair, lawful process
If the work is not up to standard, resist the urge to react with penalties. The right sequence protects both the household and you:
- Talk and retrain first. Many issues are a language gap or an unclear expectation. Revisit the task schedule together and give a genuine chance to improve.
- If it continues, give a clear written warning. This matters legally: the regulation only allows termination without the end-of-service award after a documented breach that continues despite a written warning (Article 26).
- Then decide: adjust the arrangement, agree a clean separation, or, for a genuine rights dispute, use the official channels rather than taking matters into your own hands.
The much-searched situation of a worker who refuses to work is handled the same way. Within the 90-day probation you may end the arrangement directly. After that, follow the talk-then-written-warning path. A flat refusal that continues after a written warning is one of the narrow grounds for termination for cause; a one-off bad week is not. If she is refusing because of a genuine grievance, unpaid wages, excessive hours, or a safety concern, treat it as a dispute to resolve, not a discipline problem, because a worker who withholds labour over an unmet right is often within her rights.
You cannot dock her salary or hold her passport to “discipline” underperformance. Wage deductions are capped at a quarter of the wage and only for specific reasons like proven damage or an advance (Article 20), and withholding documents is prohibited outright. Employer violations carry fines up to SAR 20,000 and a recruitment ban of up to three years (Article 29). Manage performance through clarity and warnings, not money or documents.
Handling a genuine dispute
When it is a real dispute rather than a management issue, the lawful channels are the labour hotline on 19911 and complaints through Musaned, which since October 2024 is where domestic-work complaints are filed. These route to the amicable settlement committees under the Ministry of Human Resources, and, if unresolved, to the labour courts (Article 32). Keep the dispute process separate from day-to-day performance management, and if safety is ever a concern, our safety guidelines explain the steps.
If it is genuinely not working out
Sometimes the fair conclusion is to part ways. You have options short of a messy replacement:
- Transfer the sponsorship to another family instead of cancelling, which is often faster and cheaper. See our transfer and cancellation guide.
- Use the replacement route through a licensed office if you are re-recruiting. Our recruitment-office guide and the Musaned office directory help you choose well.
Whichever route you take, settle the end-of-service award and any dues cleanly, and keep the electronic salary record complete. A fair exit protects your file for the next hire just as much as a fair start does.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Never writing the duties down, then arguing later about what the job includes.
- Reacting to a bad week with a pay cut or by holding the passport, both of which are violations.
- Skipping the written warning, which is exactly the step that lets you end a contract for cause lawfully.
- Treating a genuine grievance (unpaid wages, excessive hours) as “refusing to work,” when it is really a dispute to resolve.
- Assigning work outside the contracted profession, or lending the worker to another household, both prohibited.
The bottom line
Manage with clarity, not pressure. Agree a task schedule, set house rules that respect her rest day and her dignity, use the probation window, and if performance slips, talk, then warn in writing, then decide. Do that and most arrangements settle into something stable, which is the whole point.
