Fake Saudization flayed

The Labor Ministry emphasized Saturday that it would take tough measures to prevent fake Saudization and introduce new laws to encourage private firms to employ more Saudis.
“Pseudo Saudization is an immoral practice,” said Deputy Labor Minister Mufrej Al-Haqabani while giving a lecture at King Saud University. He said imposing a minimum salary for jobs was difficult.
“We have held a dialogue with business owners who have agreed on a minimum salary, which is being studied by a team of experts,” he added. Al-Haqabani urged businessmen to present their proposals and opinion to improve the labor market.
The ministry announced Saturday that it had taken punitive action against 45,375 labor law violators after visiting 152,557 firms across the Kingdom during the past six months.
“We have stopped labor services to 11,271 firms for not cooperating with the ministry and not giving their exact addresses,” said Abdullah bin Nasser Abuthnain, deputy minister for inspections and work environment development.
The largest number of violations (6,373) were related to expats working for companies or individuals other than their sponsors.
Fake Saudization and negligence in implementing regulations related to women employment at lingerie shops were other major violations, he said.
“Major violators such as firms employing workers who are not under their sponsorship, or sponsors allowing their employees to work for other firms will be handed over to the Interior Ministry,” Abuthnain said.