day forum on workers' rights opens here Saturday. Organized under the patronage of the Technical and Vocational Training Corporation (TVTC), the forum will acquaint participants with the new Saudi labor law and discuss the issues of workers' rights, including those of the expatriates. More than 100 human recourses experts will tackle subjects like worker contracts and how to create them, common mistakes made when firing employees, the right to annual vacation and end-of-service benefits. “The forum is very important because it focuses on the necessity of being in touch with the work system implemented after Saudi Arabia joined the World Trade Organization,” said Khaled Abu-Rashed, Vice President of the Paris-based International Justice Organization and member of the London-based International Arbitrators Institute, Arbitrator at the Arbitration Center in the GCC and Authorized Arbitrator in the Saudi Ministry of Justice. The forum will also have female participants. “Women rights are ensured in the new system, but they do not know about their rights and how to use them. The problem is not that they have no rights, they simply need to understand them,” said Abu-Rashed. Since women have not been effectively involved in earlier forums, this will be the first time issues such as maternity leave as well as other problems which affect them will be discussed and explained. Many companies have been threatened with litigation because of improper implementation of labor laws, he said. The forum will also focus on workers' rights in the private sector and the disadvantages of taking the wrong decision from the legal and administrative aspects. Human resource personnel in the private sector can cause great damage if they are not acquainted with the new labor regulations, he said. Abu-Rashed said the main objective of the forum was to inculcate labor rights culture. The forum will also discuss expatriate labor issues, he said. The expat worker has the same financial rights that a Saudi worker has with regards to salary, allowances, end-of-service awards, compensations in case of illegal termination, education allowances, etc, said Abu-Rashed. The participants will also discuss the clauses that must be included in labor contracts. __
