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Saudi Arabia - Compensation & Benefit Legislation

CAPITAL

Riyadh

 

CLIMATE

Saudi Arabia has a harsh, dry desert with great extremes of temperature.

 

LANGUAGES

Arabic

 

LEGAL SYSTEM

Saudi Arabia’s legal system is based on Islamic law, several secular codes have been introduced with commercial disputes handled by special committees. Saudi Arabia has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction.

 

CURRENCY

Saudi Riyal (US Dollar = 3.75030 SAR as of March 15, 2002)

 

SAUDI ARABIA - COST-OF-LIVING

ERI's Relocation Assessor is a recommended source for cost-of-living data.

 

SAUDI ARABIA - EMBASSY/CONSULATES

U.S. Embassy at Riyadh

P.O. Box 94309

Riyadh 11693

Saudi Arabia

http://usembassy.state.gov/riyadh/

 

U.S. Consulates:

U.S. Consulate General - Dhahran
P.O. Box 38955

Dhahran Airport 31932

Saudi Arabia

Telephone: (966-3) 330-3200
Fax #: (966-3) 330-0464

 

U.S. Consulate General - Jeddah

21411Palestine Rd.

P.O. Box 149

Jeddah, 21411

Saudi Arabia

Phone: (966-2) 667-0080
Fax: (966-2) 660-2567

 

Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia at Washington D.C.

601 New Hampshire Avenue N.W.

Washington D.C. 20037

Telephone: (202) 337-4076

Fax: (202) 337-4134

E-mail: info@saudiembassy.net

http://www.saudiembassy.net/

 

SAUDI ARABIA - HOLIDAYS

 

SAUDI ARABIA - LEAVE

Annual Leave: Minimum 15 days paid each year.

 

Maternity Leave: 10 weeks – 50% - 100% (paid by employer).

 

SAUDI ARABIA - MINIMUM AGE

The minimum age for employment is 13 years, which may be waived by the Ministry of Labor with the consent of the juvenile's guardian. There is no minimum age for workers employed in family-oriented businesses or in other areas that are construed as extensions of the household, such as farming, herding, and domestic service.

 

Children under the age of 18 may not be employed in hazardous or harmful industries, such as mining or industries employing power-operated machinery.

 

(Section 6.d. Acceptable Conditions of Work, Saudi Arabia – Report of Human Rights Practices, 2001, U.S. Department of State.)

 

SAUDI ARABIA - MINIMUM REMUNERATION

There is no legal minimum wage.

 

(Section 6.e. Acceptable Conditions of Work, Saudi Arabia – Report of Human Rights Practices, 2001, U.S. Department of State.)

 

SAUDI ARABIA - REMUNERATION

ERI's Geographic and Salary assessors are recommended sources for international remuneration covering 189 countries.

 

SAUDI ARABIA - REPORT OF HUMAN RIGHTS PRACTICES (2001, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE)

Section 6 Worker Rights

 

a. The Right of Association

 

The Government prohibits the establishment of labor unions; however, in May the Government announced that beginning in December, workers in companies employing more than 100 citizens could form "labor committees."

  

The labor committees are to consist of three to nine members, who would serve 3-year terms. The Government has no role in selecting the committee members; both management and workers will be represented. The committee may make recommendations to company management to improve work conditions, increase productivity, improve health and safety, and recommend training programs. The Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs may send a representative to attend committee meetings. A committee must provide a written report of its meetings to company management, which also will be transmitted to the Ministry. The Ministry may dissolve a labor committee if it violates regulations or threatens public security. Foreign workers may not form or become members of labor committees. No committees were formed by year's end.

 

Strikes are prohibited, but several work stoppages were staged in Jeddah in 2000 by foreign hospital, food processing, and construction workers who had not been paid. There were no strikes reported during the year.

 

In 1995 the U.S. Overseas Private Investment Corporation suspended coverage for Saudi Arabia because of the Government's lack of compliance with internationally recognized worker rights standards.

 

b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively

 

Collective bargaining is forbidden. Foreign workers comprise about two-thirds of the work force. There is no minimum wage; wages are set by employers and vary according to the type of work performed and the nationality of the worker.

 

There are no export processing zones.

 

c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor

 

The Government prohibits forced or compulsory labor pursuant to a royal decree that abolished slavery. Ratification of the International Labor Organization (ILO) Conventions 29 and 105, which prohibit forced labor, gives them the force of law. However, employers have significant control over the movements of foreign employees, which gives rise to situations that sometimes involve forced labor, especially in remote areas where workers are unable to leave their place of work.

 

Some sponsors prevented foreign workers from obtaining exit visas to pressure them to sign a new work contract or to drop claims against their employers for unpaid salary. Additionally, some sponsors refused to provide foreign workers with a "letter of no objection" that would allow them to be employed by another sponsor. The authorities in some cases forced maids fleeing abusive employment circumstances to return to their employers.

 

There have been many reports of workers whose employers refused to pay several months, or even years, of accumulated salary or other promised benefits. Foreign workers with such grievances, except foreign domestic servants, have the right to complain before the labor courts, but few do so because of fear of deportation. The labor system is conducive to the exploitation of foreign workers because enforcement of work contracts is difficult and generally favors employers. Labor courts, while generally fair, may take many months to reach a final appellate ruling, during which time the employer may prevent the foreign laborer from leaving the country. An employer also may delay a case until a worker's funds are exhausted, and the worker is forced to return to his home country.

 

The law does not specifically prohibit forced or bonded labor by children. Nonetheless, with the rare exception of criminal begging rings, and the possible exceptions of family businesses, forced or bonded child labor does not occur (see Section 6.d.). In 1997 the Government attempted to eradicate forced child begging. Nevertheless, criminal rings consisting almost exclusively of foreigners have continued to buy and import South Asian and African children for the purpose of forced begging (see Section 6.f.).

 

d. Status of Child Labor Practices and Minimum Age for Employment

 

The minimum age for employment is 13 years, which may be waived by the Ministry of Labor with the consent of the juvenile's guardian. There is no minimum age for workers employed in family-oriented businesses or in other areas that are construed as extensions of the household, such as farming, herding, and domestic service.

 

Children under the age of 18 may not be employed in hazardous or harmful industries, such as mining or industries employing power-operated machinery. While there is no formal government entity responsible for enforcing the minimum age for employment of children, the Ministry of Justice has jurisdiction and has acted as plaintiff in the few cases that have arisen against alleged violators. However, in general children play a minimal role in the work force.

 

The law does not prohibit specifically forced or bonded labor by children, but it is not a problem, with the rare exception of forced child begging rings, and possibly family businesses (see Section 6.c.). Reportedly, young boys of Saudi, Sudanese, and South Asian origin are used as jockeys in camel races.

 

The Government has not ratified ILO Convention 182 on the worst forms of child labor.

 

e. Acceptable Conditions of Work

 

There is no legal minimum wage. Labor regulations establish a 48-hour workweek at regular pay and allow employers to require up to 12 additional hours of overtime at time-and-a-half pay. Labor law provides for a 24-hour rest period, normally on Fridays, although the employer may grant it on another day. The average wage generally provides a decent standard of living for a worker and family.

 

The ILO has stated that the Government has not formulated legislation implementing the ILO Convention 100 on Equal Remuneration and that regulations that segregate work places by sex, or limit vocational programs for women, violate ILO Convention 111 on Discrimination in Employment and Occupation.

 

Workers risk losing employment if they remove themselves from hazardous work conditions.

 

Labor regulations require employers to protect most workers from job-related hazards and disease. However, foreign nationals report frequent failures to enforce health and safety standards. Farmers, herdsmen, domestic servants, and workers in family-operated businesses are not covered by these regulations.

 

Some foreign nationals who have been recruited abroad have claimed that after their arrival in the country, they were presented with work contracts that specified lower wages and fewer benefits than originally promised. Other foreign workers reportedly have signed contracts in their home countries and later were pressured to sign less favorable contracts upon arrival. Some employees report that at the end of their contract service, their employers refuse to grant permission to allow them to return home. Foreign employees involved in disputes with their employers may find their freedom of movement restricted (see Section 2.d.). The labor laws, including those designed to limit working hours and regulate working conditions, do not apply to foreign domestic servants, and such domestic servants may not seek the protection of the labor courts. There were credible reports that female domestic servants sometimes were forced to work 16 to 20 hours per day 7 days per week. There were numerous confirmed reports of maids fleeing employers and seeking refuge in their embassies. Foreign embassies continued to receive reports of employers abusing domestic servants. Such abuse included withholding of food, beatings and other physical abuse, and rape. The Government's figures for 1999 stated that 7,000 maids fled their place of employment, and the actual number presumably was higher. During the year, the media reported additional stories of such incidents. The authorities in some cases forced such maids to return to their places of employment.

 

The ongoing campaign to remove illegal immigrants from the country has done little to Saudiize the economy because illegal immigrants largely work in low-income positions, which most citizens consider unsuitable. The Government is carrying out the campaign by widely publicizing its enforcement of existing laws against illegal immigrants and citizens employing or sponsoring illegal immigrants. In addition to deportation for illegal workers and jail terms and fines for Saudis hiring illegal workers, the Government announced in 1998 that houses rented to illegal aliens would be ordered closed.

 

In 1997 the Government offered an amnesty to allow illegal immigrants and their employers or sponsors to avoid the possibility of prosecution by voluntarily seeking expeditious repatriation. As of September 1999, as many as 1.1 million persons departed the country under terms of the amnesty or were deported for violating residence and labor laws. During this process, the Government bowed to domestic pressure and granted grace periods and exemptions to certain categories of illegal immigrants (such as servants, drivers, and shepherds), thereby allowing many illegal immigrants to legalize their status without leaving the country.

 

The effect of the expeditious repatriation of some illegal immigrants and the legalization of others has been to improve overall working conditions for legally employed foreigners. Illegal immigrants generally are willing to accept lower salaries and fewer benefits than legally employed immigrants. The departure or legalization of illegal workers reduced the competition for certain jobs and, thereby, reduced the incentive for legal immigrants to accept lower wages and fewer benefits as a means of competing with illegal immigrants. Furthermore, their departure or legalization removed a large portion of the class of workers most vulnerable to abuse and exploitation because of their illegal status.

 

f. Trafficking in Persons

 

The law does not prohibit specifically trafficking in persons; however, the law prohibits slavery and the smuggling of persons into the country.

 

Criminal rings consisting almost exclusively of foreigners have bought and imported South Asian children, including children with disabilities, and women for the purpose of organized begging, particularly in the vicinity of the Grand Mosque in Mecca during Islamic holidays.

 

There were unconfirmed reports that women were trafficked into the country to work as prostitutes.

 

Among the millions of foreign workers in the country, some persons, particularly domestic workers, are defrauded by employment agencies or exploited by employers; some workers overstay their contracts and are exploited as they have few legal protections. Many foreign domestic servants flee work situations that include forced confinement, beating and other physical abuse, withholding of food, and rape. The authorities often forced domestic servants to return to their places of employment (see Sections 5 and 6.c.). The Government states that it does not believe that trafficking in persons is a problem because foreign workers come to the country voluntarily. It primarily focused on identifying and deporting illegal workers, and did not devote significant effort or resources to antitrafficking activity.

 

SAUDI ARABIA - SOCIAL SECURITY

Social Security Office of International Programs:

 

http://www.ssa.gov/SSA_Home.html

 

SAUDI ARABIA - STANDARD WORKWEEK

Labor regulations establish a 48-hour workweek at regular pay and allow employers to require up to 12 additional hours of overtime at time-and-a-half pay. Labor law provides for a 24-hour rest period, normally on Fridays, although the employer may grant it on another day.

 

(Section 6.e. Acceptable Conditions of Work, Saudi Arabia – Report of Human Rights Practices, 2001, U.S. Department of State.)