Musaned Electronic Salary Mandate in Saudi Arabia

From 1 January 2026, every domestic worker in Saudi Arabia must be paid electronically through the Musaned platform — with a Mada card or bank wallet opened in the worker's own name — under MHRSD's universal electronic-salary mandate. Cash-only pay is no longer lawful. The rule has been phasing in since 1 July 2024 and the universal stage closes the loop for every Saudi household, regardless of how many workers they employ.

Phased rollout — when did the mandate apply to your household?

• 1 July 2024 — every newly arriving domestic worker is on Musaned WPS from day one.
• January 2025 — households employing 4 or more domestic workers.
• July 2025 — households employing 3 or more.
• 1 October 2025 — households employing 2 or more.
• 1 January 2026 — UNIVERSAL. Every Saudi household. No exception.

What “compliance” looks like:

• A Mada card or bank wallet linked to Musaned is opened in the worker's name. The card and PIN are in the worker's hands — not the sponsor's.
• The agreed monthly salary on the Musaned contract is transferred in full through that account each month, on the agreed pay date.
• The transfer is visible to the worker on the Musaned platform (musaned.com.sa) and on the bank statement.
• The worker can withdraw and remit funds without sponsor permission.

Common non-compliance patterns the rule is meant to catch:

• Cash-only payment after the phase that applies to the household has kicked in.
• Cashback coercion — full salary lands in the Musaned account, then the sponsor demands part be handed back in cash, leaving the worker with a fraction.
• Blocked Mada cards — a card is opened in the worker's name but the sponsor holds the card and PIN.
• Fake electronic receipts — the worker is asked to sign Musaned receipts that misstate cash payment as electronic.

Penalties for the sponsor for non-compliance follow an escalating schedule per the Saudi Domestic Labour Regulation: first violation up to SAR 2,000 plus a possible 1-year recruitment ban; repeat violations SAR 2,000–5,000 plus a 3-year ban; third violation triggers a permanent recruitment ban (verify the live schedule on 19911). Additional consequences include suspension of Musaned recruitment privileges and blocking of future domestic-worker visa issuance and iqama renewal. Where Musaned-mandate breach combines with passport retention, the conduct meets indicators of trafficking under the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act (Royal Decree M/40/1430H, 2009) and is independently reportable to the Anti-Trafficking Committee.

How to enforce it in practice. A worker (or a relative back home filing on the worker's behalf) can: (1) call 19911 — MHRSD's unified contact centre, Sunday–Thursday 08:00–14:20 KSA time, with service in Arabic, English, Urdu, Hindi, Indonesian, Amharic, Malayalam, and Tagalog; (2) file on the Musaned portal (musaned.com.sa) — anonymous filings are accepted; (3) contact the country-of-origin embassy welfare attaché in Riyadh (Philippines POLO, India MEA labour wing, Bangladesh BMET, Nepal FEPB, Indonesia BP2MI, Sri Lanka SLBFE, Ethiopia MoLS, Kenya NEA, Uganda welfare officer); (4) where the contract is in default of wages for 3 consecutive months, separately invoke Saudi Labour Law Article 81 to terminate with all entitlements (end-of-service award, repatriation ticket, deferred dues) preserved.