RIYADH, 10 July — A leading hospital here has decided to cut several privileges enjoyed by a section of its work force for the past 25 years. An order issued by the management of King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center last week will affect 1,906 Saudi employees in the administrative wing.

The hospital and its subsidiary units employ a total of 7,026 workers. The new order takes away perks such as air tickets, children’s education and housing allowances and annual bonus without citing any reason for the move.

However, all expatriate employees and Saudi staff in the medical departments are exempted from the order, which came into effect on Saturday. The eligibility for air ticket has been canceled with retroactive effect from 1999.

The order said Saudi employees whose contracts are up for renewal after Aug. 24 this year would not get annual bonus and benefits such as training allowance, children’s education and housing. Non-Saudis working in non-medical wings will not be paid bonus but their training allowance is retained.

The order signed by Dr. Anwar Al-Jabarty, hospital’s executive director, however, said the management was trying its best to preserve workers’ rights, adding that they would be informed in the event of any new development.

The hospital workers said they were disappointed by the management decision to strip them of rights they have been enjoying for the past 25 years. They said they worked from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. without a break and were also required to report to work in emergencies after regular work hours. They are required to carry a pager with them all the time to receive messages from the administrators, the workers added. They also noted that their counterparts in military and Saudi Aramco hospitals enjoyed far more benefits.

The hospital had been paying all staff members an annual bonus, airfare and education allowance for years. Employees in the fifth grade or below were eligible for a round-trip ticket to London while those in sixth to eighth grades had been given air tickets for their wives as well. Employees in ninth to eleventh grades received four air tickets annually. They were also paid SR16,000 toward the cost of children’s education. Twelfth graders and above had been eligible for six air tickets as well as the education allowance.