This presentation briefly describes the main highlights of the new Implementing Regulations to the Saudi Arabian Labor Law. The Implementing Regulations were enacted on 6 April 2016.

1. THE NEW IMPLEMENTING REGULATIONS
TO THE LABOR LAW
BY DR. ZAID MAHAYNI
16 May 2016

2. MINISTERIAL DECISION
• By way of Ministerial Decision No. 1982 dated 6
April 2016, the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Labor
issued new implementing regulations (the "New
Implementing Regulations") to the Labor Law.
• The New Implementing Regulations became
enforceable immediately upon their publication in
the 22 April 2016 Official Gazette.
2Dr. Zaid Mahayni - 16 May 2016

3. INCIDENTAL AND TEMPORARY WORKERS
• The Labor Law subjects incidental and temporary
contracts only to some provisions governing regular
full-time contracts.
• The New Implementing Regulations state that any
incidental or temporary employment relationship
would be considered as a regular employment
agreement if it continues beyond 90 days.
• This characterization may entitle incidental or
temporary workers employed for more than 90
days to such things as end-of-service benefits.
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4. INTERNAL WORK POLICY
• The New Implementing Regulations are
accompanied with the model of an internal work
policy.
• Employers are required to ensure compliance with
the model policy and adapt their existing internal
work policies to it by no later than 16 October 2016
(i.e. the date falling six Hijri months from the
publication of the New Implementing Regulations
in the Official Gazette).
• Employers must ensure that revisions to existing
policies do not affect previously extended worker
rights.
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5. ONSITE REGISTERS
Employers must keep onsite:
• A register listing all workers, their job titles, ages, nationalities
and identification card numbers;
• A register specifying the salaries of all workers, disbursement
dates and any applicable deductions;
• A register specifying sanctions applied against workers and
describing the context surrounding each incident;
• A register specifying the time of arrival to, and departure
from, work;
• A register specifying all training extended to Saudi nationals;
• A register containing the medical examination results for
workers working in hazardous environments; and
• A file for each employee containing a copy of his employment
contract and all copies of certificates and information
presented to the employer.
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6. PASSPORT CUSTODY
• The New Implementing Regulations prohibit employers from
retaining the passports of their workers, except at their own
request and subject to the signing of a passport receipt form
in Arabic and in the worker's language.
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7. DISABLED WORKERS
• The Labor Law requires employers with 25 or more
workers to employ a number of disabled workers
equivalent to 4% or more of the total workforce.
The Labor Law however did not define what
constitutes a disability for the purposes of that
requirement.
• The New Implementing Regulations now defines
disabled persons as any person holding a
certificate to this effect from a local governmental
hospital or from the Ministry of Social Affairs.
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8. DISABLED WORKERS
• The New Implementing Regulations set out
measures that employers must implement for the
employment of workers with specific types of
disabilities (e.g., movement-related, visual and/or
auditory impairments, mental handicaps).
• These include, for instance, the obligation to adapt
building access and facilities in compliance with
relevant architectural requirements set out in the
Saudi Building Code.
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9. OVERTIME WORK
• The New Implementing Regulations state that,
generally, workers cannot be required to work
overtime in excess of 720 hours per year, except
with their consent.
• It is possible to require workers to perform up to 15
minutes of preparatory work and another 15
minutes of supplemental work a day without having
to count such time within the limitations on daily
work hours.
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10. OVERTIME WORK
• In respect of janitors, the New Implementing
Regulations restricts their employment for periods
exceeding six continuous hours. It is not possible to
employ janitors or guards (excluding civil guards) for
more than 12 hours a day or 48 hours a week. Work
hours during Ramadan are reduced to 10 hours a day
or 36 hours a week.
• For those with intermittent work duties such as
mechanics, technicians, freight workers and gas station
workers, their daily working hours are limited to 10
(eight during Ramadan) while their weekly work hours
are limited to 48 (36 during Ramadan). Workers with
intermittent work duties shall be entitled to at least 10
hours of continuous rest during any 24-hour periods.
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11. HOLIDAYS AND VACATIONS
• The New Implementing Regulations stipulate that the holidays
to which workers are entitled by law are as follows:
- Eid Al Fitr Holiday: 4 days starting from the day which
follows the 29th of Ramadan (as per the Umm AL Qura
calendar);
- Eid Al Adha: 4 days starting from the day of Arafat; and
- The national day, which falls on the first day of the Al
Mizan horoscope (as per the Umm AL Qura calendar).
Where the national day coincides with either the Eid Al
Fitr or the Eid Al-Adha holiday, workers shall not be
entitled to an additional day of holiday.
• Should the above holidays coincide with a weekend or an
annual vacation, workers are entitled to recover the days
which coincided.
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12. HOLIDAYS AND VACATIONS
• The Labor Law allowed workers to take unpaid leave with
the employer's approval. If her/his unpaid leave exceeds
20 days, the employment contract would be deemed
suspended. The New Implementing Regulations now
clarify that if unpaid leave is taken in the context of a fixed
term employment contract, the term of the contract is
extended by the number of days of unpaid leave taken.
• The New Implementing Regulations also provide that, if a
worker's sick vacation coincides with her/his annual
vacation, her/his annual vacation shall be suspended until
the completion of that worker's sick vacation. Weekends
however cannot be compensated if a worker falls ill during
them. 12Dr. Zaid Mahayni - 16 May 2016

13. TRAINING
• As required by the Labor Law, employers with 50
workers or more must train a number of Saudi
workers equivalent to 12% or more of their total
workforce.
• The New Implementing Regulations require
employers to put in place a register of training
programs offered to Saudi workers, as well as a
register of Saudi workers who have taken over
positions previously-occupied by expatriates. An
annual report must also be submitted to the Labor
office.
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14. TRAINING
• The New Implementing Regulations enumerate
cases where employers would be allowed to
recover from workers the cost of the training they
received. These cases include the premature
termination of the training program by the worker,
the termination by the employer of the employment
contract for grave cause prior to the period agreed-
upon with the worker, the resignation of the worker
without grave cause prior to the period agreed
upon with the employer.
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15. SAUDIZATION AND SAUDIZED POSITIONS
• The New Implementing Regulations have listed 18
positions that may only be occupied by Saudi
nationals.
• The New Implementing Regulations also requires
that:
- female make-up and accessories stores only be
employed by Saudi females; and
- workers engaged in the sale, repair of mobile
telephones and mobile telephone accessories
consist only of Saudi nationals.
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16. EMPLOYMENT CONTRACTS
• The New Implementing Regulations
include a standard form employment
contract and have marked those principles
in it that are compulsory and must be
replicated in any employment contract
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17. REMOTE LOCATIONS
• The New Implementing Regulations complete the Labor Law by
defining remote areas as:
- regions which are located 50 kilometers from populated areas,
in case of the existence of a connecting roadway;
- regions which are located 25 kilometers from populated
areas, in case of the inexistence of a connecting roadway; or
- populated areas with no infrastructure or services.
• Amongst other obligations applicable in remote locations are the
obligations to provide stores for the sale of clothing and food and the
provision of entertainment facilities (e.g., sports facilities), schools for
workers' children if neighboring schooling facilities are insufficient,
and prayer areas.
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18. EMPLOYMENT OF YOUTHS
• The New Implementing Regulations prohibit the employment of
youth between 15 and 18 years of age in fields that expose their
health, safety, or even behavioral manners to harm, such as:
- Work in mines, quarries, or the extraction of metallic materials
from the ground;
- Industries posing health hazards;
- Strenuous activities; or
- Activities which involve bodily risks, such as those involving
sharp cutting equipment.
• The New Implementing Regulations prohibit the employment of
youth under 15 years of age, except within the context of authorized
and closely supervised educational or training programs.
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19. VIOLATIONS AND SANCTIONS
• The New Implementing Regulations require the
creation of a Committee for the Imposition of
Sanctions for Work Violations in each
administrative region.
• The Committee must adhere to the schedule of
sanctions issued by Ministerial Decision No. 4786
dated 11 October 2015.
• Violations that are subject to severe sanctions
must be referred to the competent court.
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20. VIOLATIONS AND SANCTIONS
• The New Implementing Regulations order the
formation of another committee for the assessment
of appeals against, or requests for the settlement
of, administrative decisions relating to the violation
of the Labor Law.
• Appeals, or "objections", against administrative
decisions can be made within 60 days of the date
on which the administrative decision was notified to
the individual concerned. However, appeals do not
suspend the enforceability of the administrative
decision.
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21. SETTLEMENT REQUESTS
• Settlement requests may be presented, provided that
(amongst other things):
- The penalties applied are in excess of SR 100,000 or an
order was made for the closure of the establishment;
- The violation was not repeated more than three times
and no settlement was concluded in respect of the
previous violations;
- steps must have been taken towards the remediation of
the situation in respect of which the sanction applies.
• If a settlement is reached, a proposal is made to the
Minister of Labor for his decision. The settlement must be
implemented within 15 days, or would otherwise be
considered as void.
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22. PAYMENT OF FINES
• Fines must be paid within 15 days of the date on their
notification. The Minister of Labor may interrupt services
extended to employers for failure to pay fines on time (e.g.,
the recruitment or the renewal of the work permits of
expatriate workers).
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23. THANK YOU