المملكة: Urgent – Fines amounting to 100 thousand riyals.. A package of legislation to regulate the activities of “domestic workers”

Confirmed Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development Regulating the domestic worker sector, through an integrated package of legislation, regulations and systems that regulate the relationship between employers and domestic workers.

The guide to the rights and obligations of domestic workers and the executive supervision thereof comes from the Kingdom’s keenness to protect the rights of all parties and ensure a work environment based on justice and dignity. Humanity.

Professions available for domestic workers

It includes a list of professions that the system allows to practice in the Domestic workers A variety of specializations that meet the needs of Saudi families in their various forms, ranging from basic tasks such as the domestic worker, private driver, and nanny, through specialized professions such as the home nurse, cook, tailor, traveller, caretaker, and home manager, all the way to the home guard, personal assistant, farmer, and physical therapist, in addition to the home coffee shop.

The system made it possible to add any other professions that could fall within the tasks of domestic workers, reflecting the flexibility of the regulations in meeting the needs of the labor market.

Dedicated digital services

The Ministry provided an integrated system of electronic services directed to domestic workers, keeping pace with the path of digital transformation in the Kingdom and enhancing the efficiency and transparency of procedures.

These include The system is an accredited platform for recruiting domestic workers that provides comprehensive services covering all stages of recruitment, in addition to the electronic documentation service between local recruitment offices and foreign offices, which limits any possible tampering.

The Ministry provides electronic contracting between offices and employers to ensure clarity of obligations, in addition to the service of filing complaints electronically and settling disputes through easy official channels, in addition to the settlement service. Amicable for labor disputes, which gives both parties an opportunity to resolve the dispute within a short period before submitting it to the judicial authorities.

This digital system allows access to the list of recruitment offices and accredited human resources companies on a regular basis, which ensures that citizens and residents deal only with reliable parties.

Domestic Worker Rights

The regulation clarifies a package of Rights that guarantee The domestic worker has a decent life and a stable work environment, and stressed that he will not be charged any fees related to recruitment, changing profession, transfer of services, residence, or a work permit, while ensuring that he receives his wages in accordance with the unified contract signed with the employer.

The regulations stipulate his right to a weekly rest day agreed upon in the contract, and daily rest hours of no less than eight continuous hours, in addition to a full month’s leave after completing Two years of continuous work if he wishes to renew.

The rights also include obtaining a travel ticket to his country every two years at the employer’s expense, and an end-of-service reward equivalent to a month’s salary upon completion of four consecutive years, in addition to sick leave of up to 30 days per year when needed and pursuant to an approved medical report, in addition to his right to keep all his identification documents such as a passport. And residence without being reserved by the employer.

Domestic Worker Obligations

In addition to the rights stipulated in the regulations, it also carries clear obligations that fall on the domestic worker, ensuring the proper functioning of the contractual relationship and the stability of the work environment within the family.

The most prominent of these obligations is performing the work himself and under the supervision of the employer and his family members, with the necessity of preserving property. The family and work tools and taking care of them.

The worker is obligated to refrain from any verbal or physical aggression towards the employer or a member of his family, and to preserve household secrets and not divulge them to others under any circumstances.

The regulations also stressed not to leave work or work for one’s own account or for others without a legitimate justification, in addition to his commitment to respect the Islamic religion and the regulations in force in Kingdom, and taking into account the customs and traditions of Saudi society and the associated values and public morals.

Employer Obligations

In turn, the domestic employer bears a set of statutory obligations aimed at ensuring a fair contractual relationship with the domestic worker, foremost of which is concluding an official employment contract in accordance with the mechanisms approved by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development, with a commitment to providing a suitable place. For housing and food or paying a financial allowance for them.

He is committed to enabling the worker to communicate with his family normally, and to issue and renew residency and regular licenses at his own expense.

The regulations stressed the necessity of paying the monthly wage regularly in accordance with what was stipulated in the contract, and providing health care to the worker, in addition to granting him daily rest hours and legally scheduled vacations.
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Among the fundamental obligations is also not to assign the worker to any work that threatens his health or affects his human dignity, in addition to bearing the procedures for shipping his body in the event of death.

Obligations of Recruitment Offices

Recruitment companies and offices are obligated to adhere to a set of regulatory controls that guarantee the discipline of the process and protect the rights of all parties, as they must inform the worker. The nature of the work assigned to him and the amount of his wages are made clear before undertaking his duties, in addition to conducting the necessary medical, psychological and professional examinations during the period preceding his entry into the Kingdom to ensure his fitness and ability to perform the work.

These offices are committed to familiarizing the worker with the customs and general morals of Saudi society in order to facilitate his integration and adaptation to the new work environment, in addition to receiving the workers who are recruited and providing Housing and subsistence for them until they are delivered to their employers.

The controls also include providing a suitable alternative or returning the recruitment costs to the employer in the event that the worker does not adhere to what was agreed upon, in addition to completely refraining from publishing any misleading advertisements or containing statements that affect the dignity of domestic workers or violate regulations related to human rights.

Dispute settlement Complaints

The Ministry allowed either party (the worker or the employer) the right to file a complaint when a dispute occurs. The Ministry works to settle the dispute amicably within 5 working days, and in the event of disagreement, the case is referred to the competent court.

The regulations governing domestic workers set clear and strict penalties aimed at deterring any violations that may come from both parties to the relationship. Contractual contracts, whether from the employer or the worker himself.

If the employer violates the regulations, he faces a fine that may reach 20 thousand riyals, in addition to the possibility of preventing him from recruitment for a period of up to three years, and the ban may be extended to be final in some cases, with the penalty doubled if the violation is repeated.

As for the domestic worker, the regulations stipulate: Punishing him with a fine of up to two thousand riyals, or permanently banning him from working inside the Kingdom, in addition to obligating him to bear the costs of his return to his country, which reflects the regime’s keenness to control the relationship between the two parties in a way that achieves balance and preserves mutual rights and obligations.

Violations of residency and work regulations

The regulations include severe penalties against expatriates who violate residency regulations. And work in the Kingdom, within the framework of confronting irregular practices and protecting the labor market.

These penalties include the imposition of financial fines ranging in value from 5,000 to 100,000 riyals, depending on the type of violation and the number of times it is repeated, in addition to a prison sentence that may last up to six months.

The measures are not limited to that, but extend to include deportation from the Kingdom, in addition to deprivation of… Recruitment for periods of up to five years, in a clear message that compliance with the regulations is the basic guarantee for continued work and legal residence within the country.

Penalties extend to include citizens or residents who employ or cover up violating workers, or enable their own workers to work for themselves.

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