Saudi Gazette report RIYADH – More than 120 recruitment firms in Saudi Arabia have stopped dealing with their counterparts in the Philippines after the Philippines Ministry of Labor shut down their offices without any consideration for the contracts signed with the Saudi side. The Saudi recruitment offices have paid more than 50 percent of the contract value. The fee is wasted. An informed source told an Arabic language daily newspaper that the Philippines Ministry of Labor from time to time acts against their recruitment offices without coordinating with the Saudi authorities. Some of these offices have commitment toward Saudi recruitment firms. The offices in Philippines often fail to carry out and complete contracts with its Saudi counterparts due to the cancelation of their licenses. “This way the Saudi office is harmed, especially since there are contracts that have been attested and their fees have been paid,” said the source, adding, “The moment the Philippines office selects workers, the Saudi recruitment firm pays at least 50 percent of the recruitment cost. When the office in the Philippines is stopped from work, the Saudi firm loses all fees paid under the pretext that the amount cannot be refunded.” The source called upon the Philippines Ministry of Labor to grant a grace period to these offices to complete its contract or force these offices to refund the amount paid to them by the Saudi firms or transfer the visas and contracts to other offices. If the Saudi office transfers its dealing from one office to another because of the cancelation of the license of the recruitment firm in Manila, the transfer will take about two months. Hence, it will violate the recruitment contract between the citizen and the Saudi office. Therefore, the Saudi office will have to pay a fine of SR30 for everyday of delay, the source pointed out.
