Two economic experts have criticized the Ministry of Labor's Nitaqat Program, with one saying it violates human rights and another arguing it will fail if it is not reformulated, according to a report in Al-Hayat Arabic daily newspaper. Dr. Abdul Aziz Al-Hawshani, a legal and economic consultant, blamed the Ministry of Labor for not implementing the Saudization program. The Nitaqat Program is not fair to workers because they will bear the brunt of the penalties administered against a company, he explained. “The very principle of the program is against human rights.” He said the Nitaqat Program is not fair to workers because it punishes them for what their sponsors do. “Regardless of the type of penalty given to the owner of a company who does not meet the ministry's conditions, the worker will be harmed more.” “The ministry is trying to tackle the Saudization issue but is harming the worker at the same time. If the ministry wants to Saudize jobs, it should do so before the foreign worker arrives in the Kingdom, not afterwards, because the foreign worker comes to the Kingdom based on a contract. The ministry should find alternatives instead of imposing strict measures on current workers. If the ministry is using this program to exercise pressure on companies, it should do so through different procedures such as not granting violating companies visas, not by depriving workers of their rights.” Al-Hawshani urged the ministry to reconsider its decisions because the Nitaqat Program might disrupt some national programs and harm citizens and the country. Al-Hawshani said that business owners can launch legal challenges against their classification by the ministry. “The Nitaqat Program was enforced by an administrative decision and this decision can be challenged with an action brought before the courts.” He criticized the Ministry of Labor for not consulting human rights bodies before approving the Nitaqat Program and not bringing it before the Shoura Council and the Council of Ministers. “Saudis are given precedence over foreign workers in terms of jobs but the Saudi worker should be ready and able to do the work required. I wonder why the Ministry of Labor gives companies permission and visas to recruit workers from abroad and then issues orders to deport these workers.” Dr. Abdul Aziz Daghastani, an economic expert, was also critical of the Nitaqat Program. “The program was introduced quickly and lacked details. It did not take into consideration conditions in economic sectors and the companies that will be affected by such conditions.” The program is bound to fail if it is not completely reformulated and restudied, Daghastani added. The program looks interesting but does not have any details. “We're back to the same problem related to the Saudization decision to introduce quotas issued by the Council of Ministers,” he pointed out. “The only difference is that the Nitaqat Program replaces quotas with colors, which are translated into quotas,” he explained. “This means that the Ministry of Labor did not take into consideration the capability of each private sector company to hire Saudis... We can't overlook the fact that it is difficult to replace foreign workers with Saudis because Saudis are not interested in such jobs. “The Nitaqat Program will destroy some small businesses which will fall into the red zone later. It is contradictory because the government supports small businesses while the Ministry of Labor with its Nitaqat Program threatens the existence of these small businesses.” “I think we should deal with Saudization with a much better policy,” he added.
