By Salim Bin Ahmed Sahab
Al-Madina
ARTICLE 77 of the Labor Law allows retrenchment of Saudi workers without any condition or requirement after paying them a meager financial compensation.
The article was actually added to the law considering weak and less productive workers. But a single incident has created a big hue and cry and set off long debates for weeks.
The important question is why do employers terminate Saudi workers? People raise this question quite often and forget the matter altogether after sometime.
There may be reasons such as restructuring of the organization or company to face the new economic order and this is the situation we face today. We have to acknowledge this fact and cooperate with employers to lessen its negative effect.
Other reasons include weak performance of employees, intentional negligence of workers and continuous absence from work or delay in arriving at work place.
We should be frank in our discussions. We know that these companies are not charitable organizations and they cannot afford lazy and unproductive workers. They employ workers for an expected output. If they do not receive the output they will not have any other choice except termination.
Personally, I believe that a Saudi employer would not apply Article 77 unless the employee forces him to take that difficult and painful action due to his negligence and poor performance.
The question is why do Saudi employees show leniency toward jobs? This question will continue in business and economic circles for decades. Saudis should take jobs seriously and work hard to impress their employers.
The first sign of laxity in work is late arrival at work places and poor commitment to work. This mentality begins at school days. Education Minister Dr. Ahmed Al-Issa has indicated this trend in a Twitter message just after the vacation.
In his message the minister said he had visited two schools in the morning on the reopening day after vacation and found a large number of students absent. This culture continues at university where students will attend classes rarely after knowing the fact their attendance was not compulsory and their marks and grades would depend on performance in exams.
I wish the university had understood the fact that attendance is part of discipline and practical education and that it would have a positive effect when a student becomes an employee.
I would like to admire the thousands of young Saudi men and women who go to work on time and perform their duties extremely well meeting expectations of their employers.
These youth are aware of the blessing of job and the importance of being productive in order to play a significant role in the country’s development. Employees will never get rid of such workers and they will be prepared to keep them at any cost, offering them good salary and attractive benefits.
