By the tiswa editorial team, from the official sources listed at the end of this guide. How we write our guides
The shop near campus offers you four hours every evening. It sounds small. In exam week those four become eight, because the road eats an hour and the tiredness eats what follows. The student who counts hours on paper before signing avoids that trap. The one who signs because the pay is good finds it in week five.
How do I compare a part-time job with my university timetable?
Draw your week on paper with seven columns. Put lectures in first, since they do not move. Then the study hours you really need, then sleep, meals and prayer, then the trip from campus to work and from work home. What is left is what you own for the job. If they offer more hours than that, you have the answer before you read the contract.
| Item | Example: hours a week | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Lectures and labs | 18 | From your registered timetable |
| Study and assignments | 14 | Estimate from a past semester |
| Travel to work and campus | 5 | Time it at rush hour |
| Sleep, meals and rest | 56 | Do not cut it |
| The part-time job | 12 | What remains after the rest |
These numbers are an example for illustration, not advice. Your week is different, especially if your major has labs or placements, as in health and engineering. The idea is to put in your own figures and see the hours left before you see the pay.
How many hours can a university student work?
The law sets a ceiling and leaves the timetable to you. In flexible work by the hour a person may not exceed 12 hours a day or 160 hours a month, across one employer or several.1 The ministry’s own example is a five-day contract allowing up to 60 hours.1 That is a ceiling, not a target: a student working 160 hours a month is doing nearly a full-time job.
Part-time work on an ordinary contract is defined in Article 2 of the Labour Law as work by a non-full-time worker for fewer than half the usual daily hours at the establishment.2 If the establishment works eight-hour days, part-time is under four hours a day. We cover the rule in full in part-time work in Saudi Arabia.
What should the part-time contract say before I sign?
The executive regulation of the Labour Law requires a part-time contract to be written and fixed-term, and to state the working hours.3 In flexible work a contract made outside the platform is not accepted, and you get a text message with a link to accept or reject within five days.1 If an employer says let us agree verbally and sort out the rest later, treat that as a warning.
- Hours and days
Ask for them in writing: which days, from what time to what time.
- Site and journey
Put the address on a map at rush hour and add the trip there and back.
- Holidays and exam weeks
Agree in writing to cut or pause hours during exams.
- Contract length and end date
A part-time contract is fixed-term. Ask what comes after the end.3
- Pay and pay day
How much, how, and when. Into a bank account in your name.
- How it is documented
A written contract or a flexible-work platform message, never a verbal deal.
How do I choose between two part-time jobs?
Give each job a score out of five on four items: fit with the timetable, short travel, flexibility in exam weeks, and a clear contract. Add the scores, and look at pay last. That is our way of sorting, not an official system, but it stops pay deciding too early. If the totals tie, take the one closer to campus.
To find real openings, start with Jadarat, the national employment platform.4 For the wider picture of the three lawful routes, read part-time jobs for university students. If you live in Jeddah, student jobs in Jeddah works one city’s commute through in detail.
Watch for one thing many students overlook: the timetable changes mid-semester. A project lands, a course adds a lab, an exam moves earlier. Leave a margin of two or three hours in your budget instead of filling the week from day one. A student who used every free hour has no room to breathe when a single thing shifts.
When should I leave a part-time job?
Leave when two signs show together: your grades drop or you miss lectures because of work, and your employer ignores a request to reduce hours. If the contract is written, read the termination clause before you resign so you do not lose what you are owed. Put what you need in writing before you decide.
Hello, I am [name]. My end-of-semester exams run from [date] to [date]. Could my hours be reduced to [number] a week during that period, then return to the usual schedule afterwards? Please confirm in writing. Thank you for understanding.
Your pay goes further if you know what lowers your spending. See what is open to students in student discounts in Saudi Arabia, and build a simple monthly budget from a personal financial plan.
