Cairo: Saudi Arabia plans to impose fines up to SR1 million on the employer who recruits overseas labour without having real work for them in a step aimed to combat illegal brokerage.
The kingdom’s Ministry of Human resources plans to incriminate the practice under a draft scheme it unveiled for online survey, stipulating that recruitment of one or more workers from abroad without having jobs for them will be punishable by fines ranging from SR200,000 to a maximum of SR1 million.
If the offender is a foreigner, he/she will be deported from the kingdom.
The ministry will be responsible for detecting associated violations and refer them to public prosecution to weigh filing lawsuits before the competent court, Saudi news website Akhbar24 reported.
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The ministry said the proposed modifications to the labour system aim to incriminate brokerage in phantom labour.
In recent years, Saudi Arabia, home to a large community of expat workers, has sought to regulate its job market, and boost its attractiveness and competitiveness.
Last year, the Ministry of Human Resources unveiled an authentication plan via its Qiwa platform obligating private sector institutions to document 20% of their employees’ contracts in the first quarter of 2023, 50% in the second half, and 80% in the third quarter.
The plan is designed to preserve rights of parties to the contractual relationship, and provide a stable labour environment conducive for the employee’s productivity increase and boosting the job market in the kingdom.
In 2020, Saudi Arabia introduced major labour reforms, drastically improving its sponsorship system.
The reforms, which went into effect in the ensuing year, allow job mobility and regulate the exit and re-entry visa issuance for expatriate workers without employers’ approval.
