Cairo: Saudi Arabia has introduced changes into a list of work violations including proposed reductions surpassing 60 per cent in fines imposed for related breaches, according to a local report.
Establishments in the kingdom are categorised depending on the number of their employees. Category A refers to an establishment employing 50 or more workers. Category B covers the establishments employing 21 to 49 workers while category C entails establishments, which each employes 20 or less workers.
An amended index of violations is posted on the government Public Consultation Platform. According to the amendments by the Ministry of Human Resources, a fine levied on the employer’s failure to abide by safety and occupational health rules is reduced from SR10,000 to SR5,000 for the category A establishments, from SR5,000 to SR2,5000 for the category B establishments and from SR2,500 to SR1,500 for the category C establishments respectively, news portal Akhbar24 reported.
Moreover, fines for failing to provide medical insurance for the worker and family members are slashed from SR10,000 to SR1,000 for the category A establishments, from SR5,000 to SR500 for the category B establishments, and from SR3,000 to SR300 for the category C establishments respectively.
A fine imposed for employing children is, meanwhile, cut from SR20,000 to SR2,000 while a fine for employing a woman worker during the six weeks after childbirth is put at SR1,000 instead of SR10,000.
According to the same amendments, fines imposed for employing foreigners in jobs restricted to Saudi citizens or failure to abide by localisation percentages have been reduced from SR20,000 to SR8,000 for category A, from SR10,000 to SR4,000 for category B and from SR5,000 to SR2,000 for category C respectively.
The same amendment applies to the violation of nominally registering a Saudi citizen on the list of workers without providing real work for him/her.
Saudi Arabia, a country of around 32.2 million people, is home to a large community of expat workers.
