Shoura members want MoI hand in hiring of foreign workers

RIYADH: Members of the Shoura Council have slammed the Labor Ministry for what they see as its inability to protect the rights of citizens recruiting foreigners.
At the Shoura’s first session after a three-month summer recess, several members said the Interior Ministry should be tasked with hiring processes because it was more competent, a local publication reported on Tuesday.
They said the recruitment problem only surfaced after the Labor Ministry took over these functions, and that it was introducing measures to protect workers rather than citizens.
They said more rules should be introduced to ensure citizens are treated fairly, in reference to the five-year pact signed last year with Vietnam.
The Labor Ministry has also been criticized by Saudi recruiters and citizens in the past over agreements seen to be infringing on the privacy and rights of citizens.
These include provisions that employers provide indications of the size of their families and layout of their houses.
Recruiters have complained that the ministry is not allowing them to charge more for recruitment processes.
The ministry has also been under fire from private Saudi businesses over its high quotas that form part of its Saudization program. Many Saudi businesspeople have claimed that they have had to close their firms because they could not hire foreign workers.
Thirty highly qualified Saudi women are part of the Shoura Council. They have their say in its deliberations and decisions.