RIYADH, 29 November 2002 — The investigations department at the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs found 387,000 labor violations in private firms in 287,000 inspection visits this year, according to the annual report of the department.
The number of violations showed a 194 percent increase compared to last year. The inspection tours, undertaken to check if companies strictly followed the labor regulations, covered more than one million workers, including 120,700 Saudis.
The delay in the payment of wages and failure
to install safety equipment for workers are the most common violations, said Ibrahim Al-Hanaki, director general of the information center at the labor affairs department that issued the report.
Dr. Ali Al-Namlah, minister of labor and social affairs, has directed all labor offices in the Kingdom to stop serving any company, establishment, factory, bank, hospital or clinic which does not submit a computerized record of the details pertaining to its workers beginning next March.
This move is a strong warning to companies which have not provided the ministry with details of their workers. Such companies will not be eligible for the recruitment of foreign labor, work permits and the Saudization certificate.
The ministry needs these details to verify if the companies have strictly implemented all the government orders on Saudization.
