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1,000 Labor Ministry inspectors to carry out Nitaqat checks

JEDDAH: The Ministry of Labor has announced plans to reinforce its branch offices in various regions of the Kingdom by appointing as many as 1,000 inspectors to ensure effective implementation of the Nitaqat program.

The ministry has also pledged to take stringent punitive action against general service offices allegedly involved in helping some companies and establishments to dodge Saudization targets, Al-Eqtisadiah business daily said in a report on Sunday.

The move came following reports that some companies in the yellow or red categories are attempting to upgrade their ranking to green with the help of these offices. Recently, some of these offices started advertising in print and electronic media and claiming they can help firms that come under the red category upgrade to green.

Speaking to Al-Eqtisadiah, ministry spokesman Hetab Al-Anzi said the Nitaqat program is meant to create more jobs for Saudis in the private sector as well as to put an end to malpractices taking place in the employment market.

"If any firms are found hiring Saudi job seekers on a temporary basis with the sole objective of switching over to green status, stringent punitive action would be taken against them. If they dispense with Saudi employees at a later stage without genuine reasons, they would fall again into yellow or red categories," he said.

He added that employers must hire Saudis after providing them with a compulsory health insurance scheme. "There should also be a work contract signed by both sides. The employers face punitive action if the contract contravenes provisions stipulated in the Kingdom's Labor Law. The ministry would take steps to ensure Saudis are given permanent jobs in private sector firms," he said.

Al-Anzi urged Saudis who have been dismissed from work to provide details of the employer to the ministry so that it can investigate the case.

"If it was found that the dismissal was without any genuine reason, strict penal action shall be taken against the firm in addition to compelling it to give compensation to the sacked employee," he said, adding that the new inspectors would monitor whether any malpractices are taking place when giving jobs to young Saudi men and women.

The spokesman also said the ministry would follow up the implementation of Saudization in the private sector using an automatic system to identify any attempts to dodge the program.

Criticizing advertisements published by general service offices claiming to help firms in the red and yellow categories upgrade to green, Al-Anzi said: "No service offices can upgrade the category of any companies. The classification is based on an automated system and there is no room for anybody to make any alterations. For example, no one can alter the provisions of the mandatory health insurance after gaining access to the General Organization for Social Insurance's (GOSI) system," he said.

The spokesman said the ministry is closely monitoring such advertisements and will investigate the offices' claims. If it is found that these offices are taking part in fraudulent practices to enable these firms to dodge Nitaqat regulations, stringent punitive measures would be taken against them, he added.

The ministry started implementing the Nitaqat program on Sept. 10. Those companies coming under the yellow and red categories are given a grace period of nine and six months respectively.Nitaqat is introduced to evaluate private companies based on their achievements in meeting Saudization goals.

Under the program, private firms are classified into excellent, green, yellow and red. Companies with high Saudization rates would come under the excellent and green categories, while those who fail to achieve the required rates or refuse to employ Saudis are respectively included in the yellow and red categories.

The red companies will not be allowed to renew work visas for their foreign employees. Yellow companies can renew work visas for up to six years for each foreign employee. Excellent and green companies are entitled to many benefits and strong incentives from the ministry.

© Arab News 2011

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