💬 My salary has been late for 4 months in Saudi

I've been in Saudi for almost 3 years and my salary was always on time until recently. For the past 4 months it's been late, again and again. The first time, management said it was temporary. Some money trouble in the company, a few weeks, and everyone would be paid. I chose to trust them. Now 2 months of salary are still pending, and every time I ask I hear "please wait a few more days". A few days becomes another week, then another month. There's still no date for the payment. I pay for my room, food, transport and phone here. And my family in Hyderabad depends on what I send. There's a loan back home that can't wait forever. The pressure is the part that's hardest to explain. If they'd just said "the 15th", I could plan. Not knowing is what's wearing me down. A few of my colleagues are in the same boat. That's the part that worries me most. When several people get paid late at once, you start wondering how bad things really are. I don't want to quit and lose the pending months. I also don't want to wait forever. I've kept my contract, my salary slips and my old payment records, and I've been polite with HR. Has anyone here been through repeated late salary in Saudi? What did you do first? Did you send a written complaint to HR, or go to an office, or ask someone for advice? And did you get the money back? I'm not looking for a fight with my company. I just want to know my options before this gets worse. Any story helps, even a bad one.

My mother back in Hyderabad had to borrow from a relative for two months straight during a similar delay my husband went through last year, something we had never needed to do before that point. Hardest part was not the money itself but constantly explaining the situation to family members who could not fully understand why a stable job suddenly stopped paying on time.

Nearly the entire floor at my old company faced the same delay pattern about two years back, turned out the branch here was quietly being wound down while headquarters kept assuring everyone it was temporary. Several colleagues left the moment they found new offers, the rest of us stuck around hoping for back pay that eventually came, though almost five months late in my own case.

Went through this in my first company, 3 months late, and waiting quietly made it worse for me. I started asking HR for a date in writing. Even a short email reply gave me something to point to. Then I kept copies of everything, the contract, slips, bank statements. Check with colleagues too. Before you resign or move, find out what happens to the pending salary. I didn't, and it cost me.