JEDDAH, 17 March 2006 — Labor offices across the country will be given the charge of processing sponsorship transfer applications of expatriates next week, according to high-level sources at the Labor Ministry.
The ministry took the decision on recommendations of a committee comprising representatives from the Labor Ministry and the Passports Department to ensure strict implementation of Saudization regulations.
Sponsorship-transfer applications have hitherto been processed by the Passports Department. The new move was taken to prevent malpractices and reorganize processing of such applications.
According to the new plan, labor offices will accept the applications that will then be passed onto the Passports Department for approval. People will receive the processed documents from the labor office.
Sponsorship transfers will be restricted to those having scientific and technical qualifications or wives and children of foreign workers. Expatriates having scientific and technical qualifications should produce copies of certificates attested from Saudi embassies.
The labor office must save information related to the foreign worker in its database. Transfer of sponsorship will be allowed only when the profession of the foreign worker conforms to the work of the new employer and only when the latter fails to get a Saudi to fill the job.
Meanwhile, the new Labor Law that allows women to work in all fields that suit their nature and raises the rate of Saudization of jobs in private companies to 75 percent comes into effect on April 23.
Abdul Majeed Al-Naseer, a senior official at the labor office in the Eastern Province, said the new law, which has 245 articles, insists that employers provide training to at least 6 percent of their Saudi workers annually.
The Council of Ministers approved the law on Sept. 26. The new law emphasizes payment of end-of-service benefits (ESBs) to employees. Commission and bonus will be added to the basic salary while calculating ESBs, the law said.
Women will be entitled to have maternity leave of four weeks before and six weeks after childbirth. An employer providing jobs to 50 women or more must arrange for babysitters to take care of their children aged below six, the new law said.
The law instructs the Labor Ministry to establish employment offices, which will provide free service to Saudi jobseekers and employers. These offices will register the names of Saudis of working age. Employers have been instructed to inform the offices about job vacancies, types of jobs and conditions and salaries.
The new law, which replaces the one issued 37 years ago, has taken into account national and international developments and changes and realized the interests of all parties on the job market.
The law protects the rights of workers and ensures a balanced relationship between employers and employees. It also goes along with the international agreements signed by the Kingdom and principles of the World Trade Organization.
The law has put retirement age for men at 60 and women at 55, unless both sides agreed to an extension. It also allows early retirement for the first time. The law increased the entitled leave of a worker from 15 to 21 days annually, which will be raised to 30 days if he worked continuously with the same employer for five years.
