Yes, the Eid Holiday should be paid.
After completion of one year of my employment, the company is going to terminate my contract. Please comment on the following:
1. The company intends to give me an exit/re-entry visa instead of final exit. What are my rights in this regard?
2. I have not availed myself of my annual vacation. Am I entitled to compensations for this?
3. What end-of-service benefits am I entitled to? — T.A.H.
If your contract says it is for one year, then the employer may terminate it at the end of the year. If he does, then, you deserve full rights, including end of service benefit (ESB), which is half of your Last Monthly Wage, LMW, which is your salary plus all allowances, monthly averaged, such as housing and food.
Your rights are to get your vacation pay in cash, according to your contract, which should not be less than 21 days. If vacation is not mentioned in your contract, you are still entitled to claim 21 days worth of vacation time in cash. You are also entitled to air fare to return home.
If your employer agrees, you can seek work elsewhere and he will provide a no-objection certificate. You cannot oblige him to do that.
Regarding the visa: your employer cannot release you and then issue you a visa valid for a return. If you want to work elsewhere in the Kingdom, obtain the no-objection certificate (NOC) from your employer — even if you intend to leave and return soon after. But do not leave the Kingdom on an exit/re-entry visa if you will no longer work for your employer. Obtain a final exit visa and the NOC. With the NOC, you don't have to leave the Kingdom if you can find work somewhere else.
My wife and son are American citizens and are currently with me on a visit visa. Please advise the lawful procedure to obtain residence permits (iqama) for them. — N.D.Q.
With the help of your sponsor, you can write to the Passport Department requesting that they be added to your iqama. However, you may face difficulties in doing that. Also ask the US Consulate for advice on that.
I worked for the same company in Saudi Arabia for 13 years. I traveled to India for vacation with the permission of the management, but I was unable to return due to medical and family problems. That was three years ago. My visa and iqama are expired. During this time I have requested by e-mail that the company release my severance pay, but the company has not done this. Am I eligible for my service benefits? If yes, how do I do this from India. — J.A.
After 13 years, your company deserved better treatment from you than simply not returning from your vacation as planned. You could have written a letter explaining in a civilized manner what the situation was that kept you in India. It's no wonder the company is ignoring your request. Workers who leave for vacation and fail to return as planned can be blacklisted from employment in the GCC countries (Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the UAE and Oman) for five years.
This doesn't negate your rights to the end-of-service benefits, it just complicates things. You will have to delegate somebody in Saudi Arabia to pursue your rights through the Labor Office and the courts.
— Answers given by attorney Muhammad Jaber Nader
