Saudi Arabia suspends insurance firm over Saudising jobs
Decision does not relieve firm of its obligations pertaining to the valid policies
Cairo: Saudi authorities have announced suspending an insurance company for its failure to comply with rules offering jobs to Saudi citizens.
The Saudi Insurance Authority said the activity of Al Yamama Insurance Broker Company was halted as of Tuesday because of the firm's non-compliance with localising sales jobs.
The government agency added that the suspension decision does not relieve the company of its obligations pertaining to the valid insurance policies and the claims that may arise from them.
The Authority will take all the necessary measures to ensure that clients' interests are not affected.
The suspension will be lifted once the company meets the organisational requirements and rectifies its status.
The agency has called on all those who have rights with the company to check with it. In case of no response within three days, the client can make a claim via the customer protection website.
In recent years, Saudi Arabia has launched a series of initiatives to employ its nationals and replace foreign workers in several fields, including education, telecommunications, and real estate, as part of a labour policy known as “Saudisation".
In July, a ministerial decision to Saudise engineering jobs went into effect. The decision, unveiled earlier this year, initially localised 25 per cent of engineering professions in private sector establishments that employ at least five workers in these jobs.
The move was expected to provide more than 8,000 jobs with a minimum salary of SR7,000 for Saudis.
Last December, Saudi labour authorities announced a decision to localise jobs in sales, purchases, and project management, which went into effect.
The Ministry of Human Resources said the sales professions are initially Saudised by 15 per cent, covering jobs of sales manager, retail sales manager, sales specialist, wholesale manager, information technology and telecom equipment specialist, and sales agent.
In September last year, the kingdom unveiled a plan to Saudise the dental profession, which partially went into effect in March.