RIYADH, 2 June — The Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs has started implementing some of the new labor regulations on an experimental basis. The regulations are being studied by a higher committee of the Council of Ministers to see if they are compatible with the Kingdom’s agreements with the International Labor Organization, the Arab Labor Organization and the World Trade Organization. Ahmad Al-Mansour, undersecretary at the ministry, told Arab News on Friday that the regulations were an improvement on the old laws formulated more than 30 years ago. Mansour added that the new regulations stipulated that a company’s owner does not have the authority to block the setting up of a labor committee. Workers do not require his permission if they want to form the committee provided there are 100 or more Saudis working in the company. However, the workers should notify the ministry of their intention to set up the committee.
