Saudi Gazette

JEDDAH — The Ministry of Labor and Social Development has intensified inspections to enforce Saudization rules in the private sector, resulting in the closure of many retail outlets run by expatriates.

Last year the ministry conducted an average of 1,065 inspections across the Kingdom daily to ascertain whether the firms were complying with the rule or not.

A total of 388,788 inspections were carried out in various provinces of the Kingdom during 2018. The authorities have found that a majority of 334,752 firms were adhering to the Saudization rule against 25,981 that failed to comply, according to a report issued by the ministry.

The ministry closed 5,157 firms while the rest of the defaulters were either fined or issued warning notices.

The ministry’s inspection teams carried 147,288 field visits during the year and found 12,326 violations in retail stores selling women’s accessories, furnished apartments, gold shops, car rental offices and others.

Omer Zahrani, director of the ministry’s branch in Dammam, emphasized that the inspectors will continue their tour in cooperation with other government agencies to uncover labor law violators.