When a country ratifies an international convention issued by the International Labour Organization (ILO), it commits to making its domestic laws at least consistent with it — the convention sets a "floor" that cannot be gone below, not a ceiling. Saudi Arabia has ratified several conventions of this kind.
👶 Convention on the Worst Forms of Child Labour
"Each Member which ratifies this Convention shall take immediate and effective measures to secure the prohibition and elimination of the worst forms of child labour as a matter of urgency." "Child" means: "all persons under the age of 18." The "worst forms" include: slavery and forced labour, using a child for prostitution or pornography, using a child for illicit activities such as drug production, and work likely to harm the health, safety, or morals of children.
This convention was adopted by royal decree, meaning it has the force of law within the Kingdom — it underpins any additional protection for underage workers, or your own minor family members.
💰 The Protection of Wages Convention (No. 95)
Saudi Arabia has also ratified ILO Convention No. 95 concerning the Protection of Wages of 1949. This convention is the international basis behind the domestically applied Wage Protection System (WPS), which requires every establishment with 10 or more workers to pay salaries through banks on their due dates.
An international convention isn't usually applied directly in domestic courts — its role is to set a minimum floor the state commits to embedding in its domestic laws (such as the Labor Law and Wage Protection regulation), and it is those domestic laws that are actually applied in cases.
- Convention on the Worst Forms of Child Labour (ILO Convention No. 182) — Articles 1-3
- The Kingdom's accession to ILO Convention No. 95 concerning the Protection of Wages, 1949