Saudi Arabia allows some ‘absent’ workers to transfer to new employers through Qiwa platform

Dubai: Expatriate Workers in Saudi Arabia whose employment status has been changed to “absent” may transfer to a new employer through the Qiwa platform under certain conditions, including having spent more than 12 months in the Kingdom, the platform has said.

Qiwa, which operates under the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development, said the provision applies to workers whose status changed following an absence report, a work interruption report or the termination of their contractual relationship.

Under the procedure, the new employer will be required to settle any outstanding work permit fees owed for the worker.

Qiwa also clarified that government employees cannot have new employment contracts created through the platform until they complete clearance procedures and their registration with the government entity is closed through the Masar platform.

Workers may be removed from an establishment’s records if their status on the Absher or Muqeem platforms is listed as “left and did not return” or “final exit”, Qiwa said.

The platform stressed that it does not have jurisdiction over disputes between parties to an employment contract. Such cases should instead be handled through the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development’s amicable settlement service or referred to the labour court.

Qiwa also clarified procedures governing access to its services. Users log into the platform through Nafath, while a group manager can authorise other users through the User Management service and grant access to an organisation’s services according to assigned permissions.

The platform said it operates entirely electronically and does not accept or authenticate paper documents.

Qiwa also said an establishment must not have remained in the red category for eight consecutive weeks in order to issue a work permit, although newly established companies are exempt from that requirement.