A report has come out that should be good news for dependents of expats: Dependents can now work for private businesses without transferring their Iqamas.
Naturally, the details are vague and reported by the Saudi media rather than the Labor Ministry, so who knows how accurate is the report. Still, it renews the debate about the work status of expats in Saudi Arabia that started with the Labor Ministry’s tough new policies to weed out undocumented workers, tighten employment regulations and provide better job opportunities to Saudis.
Last year, the Labor Ministry ruled that dependents of expats could not work unless they transferred their Iqama to their employer. Few dependents in their right mind would give up the security of being under their father’s sponsorship to transfer to an employer who might fire them a year later or who did not deliver on promises about what the job would entail. That meant if they quit or were fired, dependents might not be allowed to return to their father’s sponsorship. Ultimately, that meant they could be deported to their parents’ home country.
That was the big questions among expats in 2013, one that was never answered satisfactorily. So, a vast majority of dependents refused to transfer their sponsorship to their employer and quit. Some employers, recognizing the value of these expat workers, offered to allow the dependents to work from home so they wouldn’t be ensnared in a Labor Ministry raid.
All in all, though, it was an awkward and unproductive way to do business, not to mention the loss of expat skilled labor did nothing to help the Saudi economy.
The Labor Ministry is now apparently recognizing the downside of forcing expat dependents to transfer their sponsorships and has reportedly established new guidelines that allow these dependents to work in any private sector job without transferring the sponsorship. The previous policy limited dependents to only teaching jobs at private and international schools.
The new policy, if media reports are to be believed, will bring back workers forced to perform duties from home and perhaps allow others dependents to be rehired at their old jobs.
One of the weaknesses in the labor policy is the inability to recognize the value of dependents of expats. Many are educated in international schools, speak fluent English and even possess university degrees. If a Saudi does not have the qualifications to fill a position in the private sector, then there is no reason why an expat dependent can’t have the job.
And this is precisely what the Labor Ministry has in mind. The prospective employer of a dependent must be in the Nitaqat Green zone and it must have a position available that can’t be filled by a Saudi.
By employing expat dependents, the Saudi economy will get a boost; the expat family feels more connected to Saudi Arabia and the employer has the benefit of employing skilled labor.
For a country that employs up to eight million expat workers, we haven’t always been very good about treating them as equals in the workplace. We want their labor expertise, but we don’t necessarily want their families living with us as well. We can’t have it both ways. If we bring skilled labor into the Saudi workforce, we very well can’t demand their families stay in their home country, or remain idle in Saudi Arabia. Idleness breeds contempt for the host country.
The Labor Ministry’s new policy — if the ministry is actually going to implement it — is a fair compromise and will benefit Saudis in the long run.
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