More than 37,000 labor disputes and work-related injury cases involving claims to the tune of SR186 million have been resolved, said the Labor Ministry in a recent report.

The commission responsible for settling labor disputes, meanwhile, arbitrated cases involving more than 12,000 workers, a third of whom are foreigners.

The Labor Ministry received a total 55,415 cases of labor disputes and work-related injury involving Saudis and foreign workers.

Disputes are first settled through legal reconciliation at the labor office, after which cases are referred to a special commission on settlement disputes. This commission ruled in more than 12,000 cases last year, which involved 7,000 expats and 5,000 Saudis.

Cases that both the reconciliation committee at the labor office and the commission fail to resolve are then sent to a senior commission, which is currently overseeing almost 3,000 of the 5,500 pending cases.

The senior commission received almost 14,000 cases last year, mostly from Riyadh and Jeddah.

Several expats have filed complaints against these labor settlement agencies and the Labor Ministry itself for failing to secure their rights and address their grievances, forcing many to accept lower sums of money to close the case.

Many Arab workers, on the other hand, are taking advantage of the fact that Saudi employers have not registered their financial rights on payrolls by stalling and making a quick buck from other sources pending the resolution of the legal dispute.