DAMMAM, 12 September 2004 — Both Saudi and expatriate workers are anxiously awaiting the revised labor law which is expected to be announced soon.
The existing Saudi labor law will be replaced by a revised one that conforms to the new business environment and covers many uncharted areas.
The Shoura Council, after a marathon discussion, has sent the draft of the proposed law to the Council of Ministers.
Labor Minister Dr. Ghazi Al-Gosaibi announced last month that for the first time maids will also be included in the draft law. According to Saleh Al-Humaidan, a member of the committee that rewrote the law, the revised draft was submitted to the Council of Ministers in 2000.
The existing labor law was enacted nearly 35 years ago and since then the entire business environment worldwide has undergone drastic changes. “There was a need to redefine the employee-employer relationship and this revision is all about that,” Al-Humaidan said.
Expatriates admit that they are a little apprehensive about the revised labor law since various rumors are circulating about end of service benefits (ESB), termination of services and notice period and reduction of annual vacation period.
Arab News in its earlier report clarified the ESB issue. If there is going to be any change in ESB policy then it will only be for new workers and the old agreements will remain unchanged.
Expatriates say that since the revised labor law will be dealing with employee-employer relationship, it is prudent that the new law takes a more pragmatic view of this relationship in an unbiased manner.
Many expatriates maintain that the new law should provide more security to the employees, as they believe that the present law protects and empowers sponsors more than the workers.
According to Hidayat Hussein, a Pakistani engineer from Karachi, who is in the Kingdom for the past 25 years, the present labor law did not provide enough security to the foreign workers who, he said, always live at the mercy of his sponsor.
Elaborating his point, he said the practice of the sponsors keeping the workers’ passports is virtually a tool to blackmail the workers by unscrupulous sponsors.
John Wilson, a British consultant, also believes that the passport should always be with the workers and exit and re-entry visa system should be abolished. “An employee is a hostage to his sponsor. If he does not want his worker to go then the worker cannot go. There is no consideration of emergencies. It is absolutely on the whims of the sponsor you get the exit and re-entry visa.”
A system has to be evolved like the United Arab Emirates where a worker is at liberty to travel, provided there is no criminal case against him, Wilson said.
Expatriates also maintained that they should have some kind of guarantee for the payment of their salaries and other dues.
“There are thousands of expatriates all over the Kingdom who do not receive their salaries on time. And many of them have not received salaries for months and living in subhuman conditions. There has to be some clause in the law whereby a worker is protected from such actions,” said Tarek , an Egyptian software engineer in Alkhobar.
Saudi workers say that they too are constantly being blackmailed by the employers on the plea that foreign workers will do their job on much cheaper salaries.
“There has to be a system under which a Saudi worker is properly protected from the whims of the employers,” said Abdullah Al-Khamis, an executive in a trading company in Dammam.
The employers have their own tales of woes. They say that they heavily invest in the training programs of Saudi workers and once the Saudis complete their training they opt for more lucrative jobs. “The bond they sign is nothing but just a piece of paper,” said Abdul Aziz Al-Mulhim, owner of a trading company in Alkhobar.
One segment which is actually looking forward to the revised labor law is that of maids who will now be governed by law. Many labor attaches of foreign embassies say that it was a welcome announcement and certainly will reduce the exploitation of maids. However, they refused to be quoted saying that they have not yet read the draft law and therefore it will be premature to comment.
The discussion to revise the existing labor law started nearly 10 years ago. In 1997, a committee was set up to study the law and then write the revised draft. The committee consisted of members from the Labor Ministry, Manpower Council and the private sector represented by the chambers of commerce and industry.
It took almost three years for the revision panel to come out with the final draft after studying all aspects of the present manpower conditions and the requirements of the private sector.
“The revised law covers almost all aspects of employee-employer relations,” Al-Humaidan said.
Streamlining the human resources sector is one of the membership requirements of the World Trade Organization, which the Kingdom is seeking to join.
