Mahmoud Ahmad
Last week, I read a statement from the Minister of Labor Mufrij Al-Haqbani that expatriates have the right to transfer their sponsorships if their sponsors delay their salaries for more than three months. In the article, published in local newspapers, he said that the ministry had received a number of complaints against employers who delay payment of salaries. He stressed that delaying salaries of employees and workers is a clear violation of the Saudi Labor Law.
He was quoted as saying, "We have activated the video call service which enables employees and workers to directly reach me. We have implemented the service in Jeddah, Rafhaa and Al-Dwadami. The service is a part of the ministry’s plan to facilitate the interaction between employees and the ministry.”
Callers can reach the minister or other officials in the ministry by calling customer service at 19911. Employers and employees no longer need to visit the main office in Riyadh to have their inquiries answered and paperwork processed. There are so far 60 labor offices in the Kingdom offering the video calling service.
Although what the ministry has stated might come as a relief for some expatriate workers, it, however, did not clearly specify what methods are to be taken to stop abusive employers from delaying the payment of salaries to expat workers.
Delaying salaries of employees is a common trend here in Saudi companies. The delaying of paying salaries is mostly directed at expatriate workers in the weakest jobs with little pay. We have seen many a times Saudi security guards in private companies going on strike because their salaries being delayed for many months. Most of them earn an average of SR2,000 a month.
We have seen expatriate cleaning workers going on strike on many occasions because they were not paid for more than eight months, and how much do they earn — it is as little as SR350 a month. We have seen how workers in contracting companies, both Saudis and expats, protesting in front of Labor Ministry for delay in salaries.
Every month, there are many stories in the newspapers of people complaining of delayed payment of salaries. It is such stories of abuse of employees especially expatriate workers that damage the reputation of the Kingdom. A worker who was not paid for many months will go back to his native country with bad memories of the Kingdom and will spread negative stories of his bad experience. We need to make sure that this never happens ever.
What the minister is saying, and I stress here if it is implemented, is music to the ears of many expatriates who will have the privilege and the freedom to change sponsorship without referring back to the original sponsor. But is this going to solve the major problem of not paying or delaying salaries? Is this new rule going to free the original sponsor from paying delayed salaries since the worker has transferred to another sponsor or is there any mechanism of collecting unpaid salaries or forcing the employer or companies to pay?
What if the new sponsor was just as worse as the old one and does not pay, are we going to tell the expat worker to jump to a new sponsor again? Are we going to ask the expat worker to be like a grasshopper and jump from one sponsor to another if the salary is not paid.
In my opinion, we should come up with a new and tougher regulation that puts an end to salary delay or non-payment of salaries because that is the root of all problems.
I am not an expert in labor laws when it comes to delayed salaries and whether there is a law that exists that can force an employer to pay. But the little I know about the issue is that when they (expats) file a complaint and in every case it works against the interest of the weakest link here, which is the expat worker.
Like I said before, companies can afford to stall and wait while the worker cannot because there is no source of income. Many a times we, at the newspaper, receive calls and emails asking for help from expatriate workers who have not been paid. Now either the workers are not aware of the law that exists, and if it exists whether that law is capable of forcing an employer to pay or simply the law is not there.
I suggest here to the Labor Ministry that companies with poor track record should transfer the fund of salaries to an independent department at the Labor Ministry. The ministry should then coordinate with a local bank to transfer the monthly salary amount to the accounts of workers. This should be a lesson to the abusive companies and employers.
Another one, which is my favorite here, is to deprive the managers of violating companies from their monthly salary so they could drink from the same cup of suffering. Let them live through the experience of not being able to come up with monthly installment payment for school, or not being able to pay bills and worst of all, let them go through the humiliation of borrowing money. That will be a perfect lesson for them.
These bad managers should be reminded that at times when they were depriving workers from their rights of receiving pay on time, Islam was quicker and just and urged all employers to pay before the sweat on the employees’ brow goes dry. We should follow the rules of Islam even before following the rules and regulations codified by humans.
The writer can be reached at mahmad@saudigazette.com.sa
Twitter: @anajeddawi_eng
