Saudi’s Ministry of Labour and Social Development announced new amendments to the Labour Law and fines for not adhering to these rules
6 February 2018
| Last updated on 7 February 2018
Living in a foreign country you are sometimes at the mercy of your employer and can only hope that they will look after you. This is however not always the case with some employers keeping their employees passports, iqama or medical insurance card during their service term, not paying them on time or violating their holiday provision.
This will soon not be the case anymore as the Minister of Labour and Social Development Ali Al-Ghafees announced that they revised the penalties for companies who violate the Saudi Labour Law. Employers can now get fined up to SAR 15,000 for violations such as keeping an employee’s documentation, not providing workers with adequate leave or not meeting the required occupational health and safety reason.
Failure to correct an offence within one month or repeat violators will have their fine doubled.
It has been illegal for a number of years for employers to keep their employee’s documentation such as passport, iqama or medical insurance card without the employee’s consent but companies have been slow to adjust.
Saudi employers have been given one month to return the documentation to their non-Saudi employees else will face a fine of SAR 2,000.
The new fines that employers can face if violating Saudi’s Labour Law are:
- Violating employee holiday provision: SAR 10,000
- Allowing a non-Saudi employee to work in a profession other than the one specified in his work permit: SAR 10,000
- Keeping an employee’s passport, iqama (residency permit) or medical insurance card without his consent: SAR 2,000
- Failing to meet the requirements of health and occupational safety of its staff: SAR 15,000
All fines must be settled within one month after being issued, else the fine will be doubled.
