Employers who let workers drift face SR 100,000 fine

Employers face fines of up to SR 100,000 if they employ expatriates who are not under their sponsorship.
Abdul Rahman Al-Zamil, director of the Riyadh Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said the list compiled by the Ministry of Labor will include an article in the new labor law stating that all employees hiring expatriates other than those under their sponsorship will face SR 100,000 fine for each worker. This is in addition to other financial penalties on employers who give their employees permission to work somewhere else.
Al-Zamil added the cost of deporting the violating employee will be deducted from the SR 100,000 and the fine does not include sponsors whose employees fled if they notify the authorities of the expatriate’s actions.
“The article related to employing somebody under different sponsorship is used in the UAE, with the law there stating persons doing so will face a 50,000 dirham fine, and imprisonment for a repeat offense,” Al-Zamil said.
In a related issue, the Ministry of Labor said it is proposing to pardon expatriates who overstayed their visits, under the three-month grace period announced by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah. The ministry said expatriate violators would be given two options: They leave immediately after paying a SR 10,000 fine or turn their visitor’s visa into an iqama.
A new list will be issued in the next few days to determine the rules and procedure for dealing with foreign workers in violation. The list guarantees the rights of foreign labor and the sponsor.
The chamber of commerce appealed to the Ministry of Labor to allow laborers, in extraordinary situations, to transfer their sponsorship from companies to be able to correct their current circumstances. This will facilitate transferring laborers who came under the sponsorship of individuals to be integrated in the labor market.
“Every sponsor should correct the situation of his workers, for we can’t start follow-up campaigns every four years, and sponsors who allow their laborers to work elsewhere should be fined.”
He expects the percentage of expatriate labor to decline by 50 percent in about a year, saying the extra 50 percent will come from trading with visas, adding “this should stop and visas shouldn’t be given to ordinary laborers because we need to organize the labor market and maintain labor rights.”
The Riyadh Chamber of Commerce alone exceeded 3,000 sponsorship transfers. The chamber called on the Foreign and Interior Ministries to stop transferring visas whose bearers entered the Kingdom on business/visit visas as this is in violation of the labor law.