The Ministry of Labor, in a tie-up with Saudi Telecom (STC), launched on Wednesday a new initiative to make expatriate workers aware of Saudi labor regulations as well as their rights and duties. Under the scheme, STC will send relevant information through text messages and phone calls in different languages. A memorandum of understanding (MoU) in this regard was signed on Wednesday by the ministry and STC. Ziyad Al-Sayegh, deputy minister for customer services and employees' affairs, and Khaled Biyari, CEO of STC, signed the MoU at a ceremony held in the presence of Minister of Labor Mufrej Al-Haqbani at the ministry headquarters here, the Saudi Press Agency reported. Speaking on the occasion, Al-Haqbani said the new initiative aims at improving the ministry's services to expatriates and strengthening their relations with the ministry and their employers. "Under the scheme, expatriates will be supplied with all the relevant information as well as necessary guidelines and directives pertaining to labor regulations, especially those related to their duties and responsibilities. The initiative will make employers aware of labor regulations and thus increase their productivity," he said. Al-Haqbani emphasized that the Kingdom's labor system guarantees full rights to workers. The ministry considers enabling workers to secure these rights is a Shariah and administrative requirement. "The ministry wants to extend its services to workers wherever they are and enable them to be aware of all the relevant information in this regard," the minister said while describing the new initiative as a qualitative leap in relations between the ministry and workers. Al-Sayegh said that signing the MoUwill improve relations with guest workers in the Kingdom. "It enables expatriates to interact with the ministry in a much easier way and vice versa. The ministry and STC will launch a raft of services and solutions over the coming weeks for foreigners," he added.
