Saudi Arabia to launch next phase of wage protection program

Saudi Arabia’s labor ministry will begin implementing the next phase of its wage protection program from August 1, 2017, as part of its efforts to ensure workers are paid regularly and on time.

The program in its 11th phase will include those entities employing 79-60 workers.

This would cover more than 7,021 companies, employing around 481,000 workers, the ministry spokesman Khaled Aba Al-Khail said.

Saudi entities, not complying with this program, will have to pay a fine of SAR 3,000, or will have their services suspended for two months. Also, employees working with companies that fail to comply can transfer to other companies without the permission of their employers.

The system is aimed at monitoring the disbursement of wages for all workers in the private sector—both Saudis and expatriates--and was first introduced in in the Kingdom for all companies with over 3,000 employees in September 2013.