Labor Law Saudi English

[Sanna Pospicil]

Fordecades, Saudi Arabia had one of the lowest female labor force participation rates in the world. In 2018, the share of Saudi women who had a job or were actively looking for one was 19.7 percent of the adult population of women with Saudi citizenship, our focus group for this blog (we are not considering the large expatriate population as they display a vastly different labor market behavior). In the years before that, the rate was much lower and had only recently started to slowly increase (see Figure 1). The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) had always lagged behind the rest of the world when it came to women and the labor market, but even by those standards, the Saudi rate was lagging considerably.

The reforms, introduced as a ministerial resolution and available through the Absher and Qiwa online platforms, only partly address two of five key elements of the kafala system that can keep migrant workers trapped in abusive situations: the need for employer consent to change or leave jobs and to leave the country. But even these changes are limited, and under international human rights law, everyone has the right to leave any country.

The guidebook also states that the worker, not the employer, must bear any fees related to this visa, which currently costs SR200 (USD 53). According to the Arabic-language guidelines, the employer is notified when the migrant worker submits a request and has 10 days to lodge an inquiry into the request.

The Arabic-language guidebook says that the new system for requesting these visas without employer consent does not replace the previous system by which an employer is responsible for issuing these visas for their migrant employees, but simply exists alongside it. This means that migrant workers, especially those in low-paid jobs who are dependent on their employers for accommodation, food, and transportation, and who may not be aware of the reforms or have difficulty accessing online platforms, may not be aware of the reforms or how to benefit from them.

Over 3.7 million domestic workers face the same serious abuses, including unpaid and delayed wages, long working hours without a day off, passport confiscations, and on top of that, forced confinement, isolation, and physical and sexual abuse. But they are denied all protections afforded to those governed by the labor law, including the newly introduced reforms.

This is not the first time that Saudi Arabia had claimed it was replacing or abolishing the kafala system. In 2000, it removed the term from its laws and replaced it with language referring to contractual relationships while allowing employers to retain the same powers.

It is illegal to violate the provisions of this Law or to prejudice any other rights acquired by the workmen by virtue of any other regulations or concession agreements, Labor contract or any other agreements, or by virtue of any arbitration award or Royal Order, or in accordance with generally accepted practice or with what has been habitually granted by the employer to his workmen in a given area or areas.

Any stipulation in a contract or agreement whereby the workman waives any right established in his favor by virtue of the provisions of this Law shall be null and void, even if such stipulation was made prior to the effective date hereof.

If the employer entrusts to a natural or juristic person one of his principal operations or any part thereof, the latter shall give his workmen all the rights and privileges granted by the employer to his own workmen, and both shall be jointly and severally responsible for such rights and privileges.

Both the employer and the workman shall know all the contents of the Labor Law so that each shall know where he stands and be aware of his rights and obligations. In addition, there shall be displayed at a conspicuous place in every establishment employing twenty or more workmen a set of rules, duly approved by the Ministry of Labor, for the purpose of regulating the work in the establishment, and containing the following:

The employer or responsible manager shall keep at the place of work records and rosters showing the full name of each workman as well as his nationality, trade or occupation, his date of birth or age, place of residence, family status, date of commencement of his service, his wages and wage supplements, any changes in the workman's status, and any penalties imposed on him and the relative investigation reports, his regular work hours and overtime, the vacations and benefits in cash or in kind that he receives, the date of termination of his services and the reasons for such termination, the indemnities received by the workman on account of such termination, and such other necessary information as relate to the implementation of the provisions of this Law, particularly those pertaining to the employment of juveniles and women and to labor injuries and occupational diseases.

In the event there are several partners or managers in any establishment, one of them, who is a resident of the place of work, shall be appointed to represent the employer and be responsible for any violation of the provisions of this Law. The appropriate Labor Office shall be informed of the name of such partner or manager who shall remain responsible before the said Labor Office until it is informed of his replacement by another notice.

In the event of any complaint against any of the officials who are charged with the enforcement of the provisions of this Law in connection with the discharge of their official duties, such complaint shall be investigated by a Commission of three, one of whom shall be selected by the Minister of Labor, while the second shall be from the Personnel Bureau and the third an administrative investigator designated by the Grievance Board or by any judicial authority replacing it.

If the investigation reveals that complaint is false or vexatious, the complainant shall, by a decision of the Commission, be punished with a fine of not less than five hundred riyals and not more than twenty thousand riyals. If the complaint against the official if found to be valid, the Commission shall submit a report to this effect to the Minister of Labor so that he may issue his instructions for the necessary action to be taken in accordance with the statutory provisions in force.

No complaint shall be heard by any Commission in respect of violations of the provisions of this Law or of the rules, decisions or orders issued in accordance therewith, after the lapse of twelve months from the date of the occurrence of such violation. No case or claim relating to any of the rights provided for in this Law shall be heard after the lapse of twelve months from the date of termination of the contract. Also, no action or claim relating to any of the rights provided for in any previous regulations shall be heard after the lapse of one full year from the effective date of this Law.

The amounts to which the workman or his dependents are entitled under the provisions of this Law shall be considered first-class privileged debts, and for the recovery thereof the workman or his heirs shall have a priority right over all the employer's property. In the event of the employer's bankruptcy or the liquidation of his establishment, such amounts shall be recorded as privileged debts, and the workman shall be paid immediately a portion equivalent to one month's pay before payment of any other costs, including judicial bankruptcy or liquidation costs.

Arabic is the language to be used in all resolutions, records, registers, files, statements, and other documents provided for in this Law, or in any decision or order issued in application of the provisions hereof, as well as in any instructions or circulars issued by the employer to his workmen. In the event a foreign language is used by the employer along with the Arabic language, the Arabic text shall prevail at all times.

In the event the responsible manager is replaced, the employer shall notify the appropriate Labor Office in writing of the name of the new manager within seven days from the latter's assumption of his duties. If no one has been appointed as a responsible manager of the establishment, or if the person so appointed has not assumed his duties, then the person who actually performs the manager's duties or the employer himself shall be regarded as a responsible manager of the establishment.

It is illegal for any workman or employer to do any act that may constitute an abuse of any of the provisions of this Law, or of the decisions and rules issued in execution of the provisions hereof. It is also illegal for any workman or employer to do any act that may bring pressure to bear on the freedom of the other or on the freedom of other workmen or employers with the object of realizing any interest or supporting any point of view which they adopt and which is inconsistent with the freedom of work and the jurisdiction of the authorities concerned with the settlement of disputes.

Labor inspectors, shall, before assuming their official duties, take the oath before the Minister of Labor to discharge their duties honestly and faithfully and not to disclose the secret of any industrial invention or any other secret which may come to their knowledge by reason of their offices, even after they cease to have any connection with such offices. Labor inspectors shall carry identification cards to be provided them by the Ministry.

Employers and their agents shall extend to inspectors and other officials charged with Labor inspection the necessary facilities to enable them to perform their duties, and shall furnish them with any information they may require, respond to any summons to appear before them, and send a delegate to appear on their behalf if they are so required.

The Ministry of Labor shall prepare the appropriate Rules of implementation for the control and regulation of the inspection operations provided for in the preceding Article, and such Rules shall be issued by a decision of the Council of Ministers.

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