JEDDAH, 16 February 2006 — Labor Minister Ghazi Al-Gosaibi yesterday called for quick settlement of labor disputes.
“I am looking forward to a day when we will be able to settle such disputes within a month and may be within a week,” he told reporters.
Al-Gosaibi instructed officials to invite both plaintiffs and defendants to attend labor court hearings.
“You should deal firmly with those who do not attend such sessions by taking strong measures,” the Saudi Press Agency quoted him as saying.
The ministry’s primary and higher labor courts deal with about 5,000 labor disputes annually, he said, and hoped that the new training program would help speed up settlement of such disputes in the future.
“The Saudi Labor Law envisages protection of the rights of all workers as it does not differentiate between Saudis and foreign workers,” Gosaibi said. “We are keen on protecting the rights of expatriates. We’ll soon set up a hotline to receive complaints.”
