Tuesday, 25, September, 2007 (13, Ramadhan, 1428)
Kingdom’s Labor Law Protects Workers’ Rights: MinistryP.K. Abdul Ghafour, Arab News
JEDDAH, 25 September 2007 — The Kingdom’s Labor Law protects the rights of Saudi and expatriate workers and ensures balanced relations between employers and employees, the Labor Ministry said yesterday quoting excerpts from the law.
“The new law with 245 articles and 16 chapters is an achievement for workers. It increases annual leave from 15 to 21 days and to 30 days for those who have completed five years of service,” the ministry said.
The law considers amounts due to the worker or his heirs as “first rate privileged debts,” adding that the worker and his heirs shall, for the purpose of settling them, be entitled to a privilege over all the employer’s properties. In the case of bankruptcy of the employer or liquidation of his firm, the aforementioned amounts shall be entered as privileged debts and the worker is paid an expedited amount equivalent to one month wage prior to payment of any other expenses including judicial, bankruptcy or liquidation expenses, the law said. The new law, which was passed by the Cabinet on Sept. 26, 2005, urges employers to pay end-of-service award of a half-month wage for each of the first five years and a one-month wage for each of the following years.
“The end-of-service award shall be calculated on the basis of the last wage and the worker shall be entitled to an end-of-service award for the portions of the year in proportion to the time spent on the job,” it explains.
If a worker resigns his job, he will be entitled to one third of the award after a service of not less than two consecutive years and not more than five years. It will be increased to two thirds if his service is in excess of five successive years but less than ten years, and to the full award if his service amounts to ten or more years.
A worker shall be entitled to the full award if he leaves the work due to reasons beyond his control. A female worker shall likewise be entitled to the full award if she ends her contract within six months from the date of her marriage or three months from the date of giving birth.
“Upon the end of the worker’s service, the employer has to pay his wages and settle his entitlements within a maximum period of one week from the date of the end of the contractual relation. If the worker ends the contract, the employer shall settle all his entitlements within a period not exceeding two weeks.”
If a worker is detained or taken into custody by the competent authorities in cases related to work or occasioned by it, the employer shall continue to pay the worker 50 percent of the wage until the case is decided, provided that the period of detention or custody shall not exceed 180 days. If said period exceeds that, the employer shall not be required to pay any portion of the wage for the excess period, the law said.
If the worker is acquitted or the investigation is closed for lack of evidence or invalidity thereof, the employer shall return to the worker the amount previously deducted from his wage. However, if he is convicted, none of the payments made shall be recovered unless the judgment provides otherwise, the law said.
According to the law, a worker may not actually work for more than eight hours a day if the employer uses the daily work criterion, or more than forty-eight hours a week if he uses the weekly criterion. During the month of Ramadan, the actual working hours for Muslims shall be reduced to a maximum of six hours a day or thirty-six hours a week.
The number of working hours may be raised to nine hours a day for certain categories of workers or in certain industries and jobs where the worker does not work continuously. It may be reduced to seven hours a day for certain categories of workers or in certain hazardous or harmful industries or jobs.
“In firms where work is done in shifts, an employer may, with the ministry’s approval, increase the number of working hours to more than eight hours a day or forty-eight hours a week, provided that the average working hours in three weeks time shall not be more or less than eight hours a day or 48 hours a week,” the law said.
The law clearly states that the employer will pay the fees pertaining to recruitment of non-Saudi workers, the fees of the residence permit (iqama) and work permit together with their renewal and the fines resulting from their delay, as well as the fees pertaining to change of profession, exit and re-entry visas and return tickets to the worker’s home country at the end of work contract.
According to the law, an employer shall refrain from using the worker without pay and shall not, without a judicial instrument, withhold the worker’s wages or any part thereof. “The employer shall treat his workers with due respect and refrain from any action or utterances that may infringe upon their dignity and religion,” it adds.
It also states that a worker may not be subjected to disciplinary penalty for an act committed outside the workplace unless such act is related to the job, the employer or the manager in-charge. A worker may not be fined for a single violation an amount in excess of a five-day wage, and no more than one penalty shall be applied for the same violation. No more than a five-day wage shall be deducted from his wages in one month in payment of fines, or his suspension from work without pay may not exceed five days a month, it added.
“A disciplinary action may not be imposed on a worker except after notifying him in writing of the allegations, interrogating him, hearing his defense and recording the same in minutes to be kept in his file. In minor violations the penalty for which does not go beyond a warning or a deduction of a one-day salary,” the law says.
The law provides every protection to women workers. “A female worker shall be entitled to a maternity leave for the four weeks immediately preceding the expected date of delivery and the subsequent six weeks. The probable date of delivery shall be determined by the physician of the firm or pursuant to a medical report certified by a health authority. A woman may not work during the six weeks immediately following delivery. During the maternity leave, an employer shall pay the female worker half her wage if she has been in his service for one year or more, and a full wage if she has served for three years or more as of the date of commencement of such leave,” the law says.
“When a female worker returns to work following a maternity leave, she shall be entitled, in addition to the rest periods granted to all workers, to a rest period or periods not exceeding in aggregate one hour a day for nursing her infant. An employer shall be responsible for the costs of medical test, treatment and delivery. An employer may not terminate the employment of a female worker or give her a warning of the same while on maternity leave. A female worker whose husband passes away shall be entitled to a fully paid leave for a minimum period of fifteen days as of the date of death,” the law says.
Courtesy : Arab News
