JEDDAH, 25 July 2004 — “Forget about professionalism and ethics when it comes to working here.” Sound advice; this practice seems to be quite commonplace.

We were sitting and discussing a financial predicament a friend of ours was in. He had done some work for a small Saudi company and has not been paid the SR15,000 owed to him. We also discussed the plight of foreign laborers who basically have little, or no protection, from their employers.

One Indian laborer for example, employed at a small tour and travel company told Arab News recently, “I haven’t been paid in two months. I don’t even have money to pay for my transportation to work.”

“Why do you put up with it? Why do you continue going to work?” I asked.

“If I stop working I get fired and sent home,” he said.

“Eventually they will pay. What can I do? I have become used to it and come to expect it. It’s normal,” he continued.

The Filipino that cuts my hair is facing the same dilemma. He also has not been paid. Every three weeks that I see him, he gives me updates on the new promises and excuses his sponsor gives him. He hasn’t been paid a full month’s salary in one and a half years, he says. “I just live off the tips. My sponsor owes me SR20,000. I just learn to accept it. It’s become normal.”

Normal?

Having lived, studied and worked in the US for 15 years, I cannot once remember a single paycheck coming late. It was something I took for granted in a way. I worked, I got paid. Sometimes, even when I didn’t live up to my boss’s expectations, I still got paid — on time. That’s what most people would consider normal.

A person’s labor is his non-returnable capital. Once invested with an employer, the worker cannot take it back and sell it elsewhere. The employer irretrievably owns it and should pay for it. If he doesn’t — and many seem not to — it is tantamount to theft.

“That’s how things work around here,” my friend told me. “You are lucky in that you work for a big company. Consider the immigrant laborer who comes to work for a startup company. Do you think he has it as easy?” he continued.

To make matters worse, the labor office is so disorganized and backlogged with complaints that it is several months before anyone’s case is heard. Many just give up and take the exit-visa, opting never to collect their money.

That is not fair, and should not be considered normal.

As the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: “Pay the laborer before the sweat dries on his face.”

We invite our readers to e-mail if they are faced with similar difficulties. We will be happy to get involved. Sometimes receiving a telephone call from a nosey reporter prods people to do the right thing.