Cairo: Labour authorities in Saudi Arabia recorded more than 107,000 violations against establishments that failed to comply with the kingdom’s labour law in the first half of this year.
They included 16,200 violations pertaining to failure to pay wages on time or illegally withholding them or part of them.
The infringements were detected during 700,000 monitoring tours of private sector workplaces conducted by the Ministry of Human Resources during the first half of the year.
Moreover, 7,600 violations of mandatory rules for employing Saudi citizens in certain jobs were recorded during the same period.
In recent years, Saudi Arabia has launched several initiatives aimed at employing its nationals and replacing foreign workers in various fields such as education, telecommunications, real estate and healthcare.
Incentives to create jobs
This labour policy, known as “Saudisation,” incentivises private sector enterprises to create jobs for Saudi citizens.
The private sector establishments’ compliance with Saudisation-related decrees reached 93.5% in the first half of the year, according to the ministry.
Saudi Arabia is home to a large community of expatriate workers.
A mechanism has been introduced in the kingdom to reach friendly settlements to disputes that may break out between the employee and the em-ployer to ensure stable relationship between the contractual parties.
Efforts to reach an amicable settlement mark the first phase in handling suits on labour disputes during which mediation endeavours are made to bring views of the parties involved closer in a bid to reach a compromise acceptable to both sides.
If not, the suit is referred to a labour court within the 21 days of the first set-tlement session.
In 2018, new labour courts were introduced in Saudi Arabia to ensure fast-track litigation and delivery of justice as part of massive reforms in the country.
