74 expats in Baha paid salary arrears thanks to Labor Ministry’s intervention

08/21/2016
RIYADH – The Ministry of Labor and Social Development quickly intervened after 74 expatriate workers of a company in Al-Baha complained that they had not received their salaries for four months, the Saudi Press Agency reported on Saturday.
The workers refused to work until they were paid their outstanding salaries and the ministry forced the company to pay all salary arrears, SPA said.
Immediately on receiving the complaint from the workers, the ministry’s branch in Al-Baha sent a team of inspectors to the company’s work site to verify the facts. The inspectors met with all parties, including representatives of the workers and officials of the company, to study the issue, said Ibrahim Al-Zalfan, the ministry’s director in Al-Baha province.
He said the inspectors also met with the workers, listened to their grievances and then discussed the workers’ demands with a company representative.

Al-Zalfan said the ministry made the company’s representative to sign an undertaking that the company will pay the workers all their salary arrears within 15 days or face penalties.
He said after continuous follow-up by the ministry’s branch, the company paid all salary arrears and granted the workers exit-only visas on their request. The company had to bear the cost of their trip home, he added.
Al-Zalfan said the company had to sign another undertaking that it will not stop payment of workers’ wages for any reason. “The company is also obliged to fulfill all obligations toward its workers and protect their rights as per the labor law,” he said.

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