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Saudi Arabia: why confirm a former employee's job?

Every Saudi employer already states the dates of joining and leaving and the occupation in the service certificate it must give a worker on request when the employment ends. Confirming the same facts takes a minute and helps the person into their next job. certo asks on their behalf, with their explicit consent.

Law as of 26 October 2026 · Personal Data Protection Law (Royal Decree M/19 of 9/2/1443 AH) as amended by Royal Decree M/148 of 5/9/1444 AH, and the Labor Law (Royal Decree M/51 of 23/8/1426 AH), Article 64 as amended by Royal Decree M/46 of 5/6/1436 AH

In short

  • The facts are already on paper. When the employment ends, every employer must give the worker, on request and free of charge, a service certificate (شهادة خدمة) with the dates of joining and leaving and the occupation (Labor Law, Art. 64). Those are the facts we ask about, never the wage.
  • It helps the person who worked for you. A record confirmed by a former employer is what the next employer trusts. Answering takes about a minute and needs no account.
  • certo asks on their behalf, with their explicit consent. The Personal Data Protection Law (PDPL) lets a controller disclose personal data when the person concerned consents to the disclosure (Art. 15(1)). The person started this check themselves, for these facts and no others.
  • You do not have to answer. We found no Saudi law that obliges an employer to answer certo. Declining is fine.

The Labor Law

Labor Law, Royal Decree M/51 of 23/8/1426 AH, quoted from the Bureau of Experts at the Council of Ministers. Article 64 was last amended by Royal Decree M/46 of 5/6/1436 AH; the amendments of Royal Decree M/44 of 8/2/1446 AH, which we checked in Umm Al-Qura, do not touch it.

Article 64: the service certificate

يلتزم صاحب العمل عند انتهاء عقد العمل بما يأتي … أن يعطي العامل – بناءً على طلبه – شهادة خدمة دون مقابل، يوضح فيها تاريخ التحاقه بالعمل، وتاريخ انتهاء علاقته به، ومهنته، ومقدار أجره الأخير.

In English: when the employment contract ends, the employer must give the worker, at the worker's request and free of charge, a service certificate stating the date they joined, the date the relationship ended, their occupation and their last wage. We ask only about the dates and the job, never about pay, so your records already hold what we ask.

ولا يجوز لصاحب العمل تضمين الشهادة ما قد يسيء إلى سمعة العامل أو يقلل من فرص العمل أمامه.

In English: the employer may not put in the certificate anything that may harm the worker's reputation or reduce their chances of work. certo never asks for an opinion, a performance rating or a reason for leaving.

What is never asked

We found no provision of the Labor Law that lists questions an employer may not put to a job applicant. The PDPL treats data on a person's racial or ethnic origin, religious, intellectual or political belief, security and criminal data, biometric, genetic and health data, and data showing that a person's parents, or one of them, are unknown, as sensitive data (Art. 1). certo never asks you about any of these.

Personal data

The Personal Data Protection Law, Royal Decree M/19 of 9/2/1443 AH as amended by Royal Decree M/148 of 5/9/1444 AH, applies to your personnel records.

Article 5(1): processing with consent

فيما عدا الأحوال المنصوص عليها في النظام، لا تجوز معالجة البيانات الشخصية أو تغيير الغرض من معالجتها إلا بعد موافقة صاحبها.

In English: apart from the cases the Law provides for, personal data may not be processed, nor the purpose of processing changed, without the consent of the person concerned. You hold these records to employ and pay the person; confirming them to certo is a new purpose, and the person's request is that consent. The implementing regulations set the conditions of consent.

Article 15(1): disclosure with consent

لا يجوز لجهة التحكم الإفصاح عن البيانات الشخصية إلا في الأحوال الآتية: 1- إذا وافق صاحب البيانات الشخصية على الإفصاح وفقاً لأحكام النظام.

In English: a controller may disclose personal data only in the cases listed, the first being that the person concerned consents to the disclosure in accordance with the Law. The person's request names your organisation, certo and each fact.

Article 11(3): only what is needed

يجب أن يكون محتوى البيانات الشخصية ملائماً ومقصوراً على الحد الأدنى اللازم لتحقيق الغرض من جمعها

In English: personal data must be appropriate and limited to the minimum needed for the purpose. You confirm or leave unticked only the facts listed. Add nothing else: anything beyond them is not covered by the person's consent.

Article 29: certo is outside the Kingdom

certo is run from Estonia, in the EU. Disclosing personal data to a party outside the Kingdom must also meet Article 29 and its implementing regulations, including that the disclosure is limited to the minimum personal data needed:

أن يقتصر النقل أو الإفصاح على الحد الأدنى من البيانات الشخصية الذي تدعو الحاجة إليه.

Proof of consent. certo records which account asked, when, and for which facts. Write to support@certo.bio and we send you the record for your request.

What this means for your answer

  • Tick only what your HR, payroll or personnel records show.
  • Not sure it is the same person? Press "We can't find a matching record". Never confirm a record you are not sure is theirs.
  • Your policy is not to answer? Press "We do not answer these requests". The record shows your organisation declined, and nobody else there is asked.

Sources

This page is not legal advice. It reflects the law as it stood on 26 October 2026.