JEDDAH, 14 December 2004 — The Labor Ministry has established a new department to protect expatriate workers from abusive employers, Labor Minister Dr. Ghazi Al-Gosaibi has said. The department will start its activities next week, he added.
“The new department for protecting expatriate workers from employers will start its activities next week to look into cases of inhuman dealings faced by foreign workers from their sponsors,” Al-Madinah Arabic daily quoted Gosaibi as saying.
He said the ministry has so far taken action against 30 Saudi employers for mistreating their domestic servants. The minister did not disclose the names of the Saudi defaulters but an official said some of them had failed to pay their maids or to repatriate them.
“The Labor Ministry will continue to prevent individuals and companies which mistreat their workers or fail to pay their dues from recruiting foreign workers,” said Ahmed Al-Zamil, deputy minister for labor affairs, quoting a decision by Gosaibi.
There are more than six million expatriate workers in the Kingdom. The majority of them work for private companies and Saudi individuals. Many expatriates have filed complaints against their employers at labor courts for not paying their salaries and end of service benefits. Expatriates have welcomed the establishment of a separate department by the ministry to look into cases of mistreatment by employers. They hoped the department would be instrumental in preventing abuses against foreign workers.
The present labor law has exempted domestic servants from its purview and Gosaibi said the exemption of millions of household helps from the law would leave them without any protection. The Shoura Council recently passed the revised labor law, which protects the rights of foreign manpower.
In a related development, the Council of Ministers has approved new measures to speed up the settlement of labor disputes. It gave subsidiary panels of the Supreme Labor Commission the authority to issue a final verdict in all appeal cases and to decide punishments according to the law.
“The chairman of the panel will fix the date for looking into the case presented for appeal within 15 days of registration of the case and the panel must give its verdict on the dispute within 30 days after the first sitting,” Article 181 of the amended law said.
Al-Zamil urged citizens and residents to strictly abide by the regulations related to foreign employees. Matters such as punctuality in paying them and permitting their rightful return to their homelands should be implemented according to the contract.
Gosaibi also said that the Labor Ministry would set up an electronic employment center next year, adding that the center would help unemployed Saudis to locate job vacancies in various companies and establishments.
The minister made this announcement on the occasion of a nationwide campaign to cut unemployment rate among Saudis. According to the General Statistics Department, there are about 300,000 unemployed Saudis. Gosaibi urged private companies to train and employ young Saudis.
