RIYADH – The Ministry of Labor will begin implementing the eighth stage of its wage protection program on Saturday in an effort to ensure workers are paid regularly and on time. This stage of the program covers more than 2,400 companies and establishments employing 130 to 170 people, according to the ministry. All companies with more than 170 employees were covered in the previous seven stages. The program was first launched by the ministry in August 2013 to set up a database containing information about salary payments for all employees in the private sector. Abdullah Abu Ethnain, the ministry's undersecretary for inspections and workplace development, reiterated the ministry's commitment to implement the wage protection program across all private sector firms. The program is expected to reduce problems between employers and workers by ensuring wages are paid in full and on time. Abu Ethnain stressed that the ministry would not be lenient in enforcing the program. He called on all firms to quickly submit the payrolls for their workers through the ministry's electronic portal. Abu Ethnain also said the ministry would stop providing services excluding work permit issuance and renewals to firms that fail to comply with the program after two months from its implementation. If firms are late by three months, the ministry will stop providing all services and the firm's workers will be allowed to switch jobs without the approval of their employer. The wage protection program is considered to be one of the ministry's primary tools for monitoring the performance of the labor market and guaranteeing workers' rights through transparent wage data. The ministry says the program will further curtail labor problems by creating healthy work environments that encourage productivity and by providing detailed statistics on the Kingdom's labor market for the ministry to publish.
