How to Sign Employment Contracts and Offer Letters Electronically in Saudi Arabia

HR sends the same few documents again and again: offer letters, acceptance forms, confidentiality agreements, policies to acknowledge, amendments, leave and clearance forms. Each one used to mean printing, chasing and filing. Here is how HR teams in Saudi Arabia can send them for electronic signature with ilzam, which documents suit it, and what to check before relying on it for an employment contract. For the legal background start with the complete guide.

Which HR documents suit electronic signature

• Offer letters and their acceptance.
• Confidentiality agreements and intellectual-property undertakings.
• Policies to acknowledge: code of conduct, IT use, health and safety, anti-harassment.
• Amendments and addenda to terms already agreed: role, salary review, work location.
• Forms: leave, expense, asset handover, resignation acceptance and clearance.
• Training and onboarding acknowledgements.

For an employment contract, follow any official requirements that apply to it.

Send an offer letter in 5 steps

1. Save it as a template. Prepare the letter once as a PDF, place the signature, date and name fields, and save it as a template. Next time you only fill in the candidate's details.
2. Add the people. The candidate is the signer. Add an HR manager as an approver if someone must accept or countersign after them, and order them so the manager is invited after the candidate has signed.
3. Choose the identity check and the deadline. A code by email, SMS or WhatsApp is enough for most offers; choose Nafath when you need to show exactly who signed. Set an expiry date, because an offer should not stay open for ever.
4. Send it. The candidate opens the link on a phone, with no account, proves who they are and signs.
5. Follow it and file it. You see the status at once, remind a candidate who has not answered, and keep the signed copy with the record of who signed, when and from where.

Collect acknowledgements from every employee

A new policy has to reach everyone, and you need to know who has accepted it. Save the policy as a template and use bulk send: each employee receives their own document and has their own status. You follow all of them in one list, remind the ones who have not signed, and keep each signed copy under that employee.

Practical tips for HR

• Collect the right details first: a correct phone or email for every person, and the national ID number for anyone who will verify with Nafath.
• Fix the version before you send: a change after signing means starting again.
• Use the order: employee first, manager after, so the manager countersigns a document that is already signed.
• Organise the result: use tags for the department, the year or the type, so you can find a document in seconds.
• Protect personal data: employees' documents contain personal data, which the Kingdom's personal data protection rules cover. Share a signed copy only with people who need it.

Compared with paper

• An offer reaches the candidate in a minute instead of a day.
• You see who has not answered without writing to each person.
• Each signed document comes with its record, and the signed file can be checked with its QR code.
• Nothing to print, scan, courier or lose.

Questions HR teams ask

Can an employment contract be signed electronically in Saudi Arabia?

Many employers do. If an employment contract has official requirements, follow them, and ask your HR adviser if you are not sure which apply. Read about the law.

Does a candidate need an account to sign an offer letter?

No. The candidate opens the link, proves who they are with a code, a password or Nafath, and signs.

How do I get every employee to acknowledge a policy?

Save the policy as a template and use bulk send. Each employee gets their own document and status, and you can remind the ones who have not signed. How to send and track.

Can the manager sign after the employee?

Yes. Set the order so that the manager is invited when the employee has signed.

How long does an offer stay open?

As long as the expiry date you set. After it, the offer cannot be signed; you can extend the date if the candidate needs more time.