The Ministry of Labor’s Primary Committees resolved more than 12,279 labor disputes between workers and their employers, with Saudi workers’ cases against their employers accounting for 42 percent of the cases, according to a report by the committees.

The committees forced the employers to pay a total sum of SR186,854,987 in compensation to their workers in different establishments and firms.

The report said that the number of total labor disputes dealt with by the Supreme Commission reached 3,102 with cases of unfair dismissal at 565, official rights issues at 6,801 and labor at 2,861 cases.

The Riyadh region recorded the largest number of disputes with 3,503 cases followed by Jeddah with 2,122 cases. Unaizah recorded the lowest number of labor disputes with only 43 cases including 7 Saudi and 36 cases of expatriate workers.

Meanwhile, the High Commission for the Settlement of Labor Disputes received a total of 5,593 issues of which 1,296 cases were from Jeddah and 4,297 from Riyadh. The supreme body also resolved about 2,910 cases with 1,394 from the Riyadh region and 1,526 from Jeddah.

The Ministry of Labor has recently moved to staff settlement bodies with a sufficient number of legal advisers and administrative assistants, in addition to secretarial staff to correct the situation in the labor market.

Ahmed Abu Taleb, a Saudi lawyer, specialized in labor conflicts cases said: “Most of the complaints filed by expats against their employers involved nonpayment of salaries for a period of over two months.” He added that all employers must commit to applying the terms of the contracts with their workers to avoid arbitration.

“On the other hand, many employers face problems when they want to dismiss a Saudi employee without strong reasons for their decision,” Abu Taleb said, adding that if the dismissal is proved to be unfair, the affected Saudi employee stands to gain high financial compensation.

 
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