Collectively (not) individually (yes!)

Collectively (not) individually (yes!)

February 13, 2017
Abdullah Al-Jumaili
Abdullah Al-Jumaili


Abdullah Al-Jumaili
Al-Madina





(Institutions are prohibited from firing Saudi employees en masse for any reason, and institutions violating this decision will receive suspension in the services of the ministry), this is what was issued by the Ministry of Labor and Social Development last week; commenting on the unfair dismissal practiced by some institutions against groups of young workers and the decision (labor) above raises several questions, including:

* It was a reaction, while originally regulations govern the relationship between the employee and institution must assume in advance what preserves the rights of the parties, especially the weakest link (the employee); If the institution or company has lawyers who are capable of drafting contracts including its protection; the poor young man who is eager to find a job and escape the nightmare of unemployment, he has no one to represent his voice and here comes the role of labor regulations.

* The decision opposes the collective firing, as if it allows that the individual is fired in different occasions, which would be taken advantage of to become in the end a collective!

* The decision of the Ministry of Labor did not mention the case of young Saudis who were dismissed during the past days and months, and how to handle the situation, and some of them lost a source of livelihood for his family!

Finally, since there is a significant shift towards Saudization of the private sector, I hope the adoption of the declaration of a system of rules that guarantee the citizens a healthy work environment in terms of salaries, allowances, promotions; the termination of services; that are done only via legal justifications reported by the terms of the contract, to be bound by the employee (albeit jointly with the Ministry of Labor) to give the employee part of his salary for a certain period to help him to find alternative employment, this procedure applied by many countries. Could we benefit from the experiences of our predecessors, to start where they finished?


February 13, 2017
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