Saudi Arabia sets expat absenteeism rules
Steps, documents outlined for cancelling absenteeism complaints against employees
Cairo: Saudi Arabia’s labour authorities have specified regulations that an employer should follow to cancel an official absenteeism report earlier filed against an expatriate employee.
The rules, set by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development, includes forwarding a letter, approved by the Chamber of Commerce, incorporating the employer’s cancellation request.
The employer will also pledge to pay the fee for the resulting renewal of the expatriate employer’s residency permit.
The ministry has also pointed to other requirements to complete the cancellation process, including a stipulation that the establishment employing the worker, should be committed to paying the labour licence fees and that the expatriate at the centre of the request should not have lodged a claim of falsehood against the absenteeism complaint with the labour office.
According to other rules for an eligible cancellation application, there should be no more than one absenteeism report filed against the expatriate, who should not also be in custody pending deportation from the kingdom.
Saudi Arabia hosts a large community of foreign migrant workers.
In recent years, the kingdom has introduced several labour reforms aimed to balance the contractual relationship between the employer and the employee, and galvanise the job market.