Labor panel orders reinstatement of bank employees

A commission at the labor office in Jeddah has ordered reinstatement of two bank employees who were fired without valid reasons.
The bank has also been told to pay the Saudi women, working in different branches of the bank, a total compensation of SR305,296. One will be paid SR205,296 and the other, SR100,000.
The order will be implemented by the relevant authorities through regulatory procedures, or even by force if the need arises, the commission ruled.
The legal representative of one of the women who worked as a director of the bank in Jeddah said his client was transferred without her knowledge and that she was mistreated. The bank, however, claimed that the employee did not report to duty at the Taif branch where she had been transferred, forcing it to terminate her services under under Article 80 of the labor law.
Paragraph seven of Article 80 of the labor law allows business owners to transfer employees according to the work interest; the business owner has the right to terminate all services if the employee is absent for more than 15 days.
The employee’s representative said the higher reconciliation council observed that her transfer to Taif was a transgression on her rights as an employee.
The commission ordered reinstatement of the employee to the Jeddah branch and ordered a compensation of SR100,000.
The legal representative for the other woman said her services were terminated without valid reasons. He sought reinstatement of the employee and full wages from the date of her firing, after it became apparent that an investigation against her was not conducted properly under Article 71 of the labor law.