Saudi Arabia abolishes the sponsorship system | World Defense

Saudi Arabia abolishes the sponsorship system

Scorpion

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The Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development officially announced the launch of the initiative "to improve the contractual relationship", which includes a number of policies and controls, including the approval of the work contract system between the employer and the expatriate and to replace the sponsorship system that has been applied for 72 years.

Last Tuesday, October 27, "Mal" reported on the abolition of the sponsorship system. The news link (click here). The uniqueness, which was reported by major international media and international news agencies, included the disclosure of the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development setting this week as the date for an official announcement of an initiative aimed at improving The contractual relationship between the expatriate worker and the employer, which is the initiative that officially means the abolition of the sponsorship system in the Kingdom after the implementation of 7 contracts, provided that the actual implementation will begin during the first half of next year 2021 AD

Last week, "Mal" came alone after it was alone on February 3, the news link (click here) revealing the imminent abolition of the sponsorship system in the Kingdom and replacing it with the work contract regulating the relationship between the employer and the expatriate, indicating that this approach comes in light of a series of economic reforms that The Kingdom witnesses it after the launch of the Kingdom's Vision 2030, where the expatriate will be allowed freedom of exit and return, and even final exit and recruitment without being bound by the consent of the employer or employer, and he will also be free to move according to what is stipulated in the work contract.

According to the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development, the initiative to "improve the contractual relationship" goes through 3 stages, including "building a preliminary vision for the initiative, evaluating the initial development, and the final vision" of this initiative, which relies on reducing the rate of labor cases, which in the last 3 years have reached 153,000 cases at a rate. An increase of 167 percent, solving the dilemma of late delivery of wages to workers, which recorded 1.2 million delays. The initiative is based on 3 main packages, including “the legislative package, the ministerial decision for the initiative to improve the contractual relationship, and it includes policies and controls to benefit from the initiative’s services, indicative models, preventing work for a competitor, employment contracts”, and the technical package that is being developed through the “Absher” platform, Exit, return, and final exit, in addition to the Qiwa platform, to enable job mobility, as services are expected to be completed on these platforms during the coming period, while the media package includes awareness of the initiative's services and preserving the rights of employers.

This was supposed to be announced during the first quarter of this year, but the repercussions of the Corona pandemic caused the delay. The final abolition of the sponsorship system in the Kingdom comes as a next step to the entry into force of the "privileged residence" system last May, after it was approved by the Council of Ministers and approved by the Saudi Shura Council in order to "advance the economy and commercial activity for expansion and transparency." The system gives residents freedom of movement and issuance of residence and visit visas. For relatives and aims to attract capital owners.

This initiative aims to improve the contractual relationship between the expatriate worker and the employer through the amendment of labor regulations and systems to allow job mobility for expatriates, improve exit, return and final exit mechanisms, which will contribute to raising the attractiveness of the labor market and raising its competitiveness, and enhancing its attractiveness for highly skilled expatriate workers. The initiative contributes to improving working conditions for expatriates by raising the satisfaction of expatriates, preserving workers' rights, increasing their productivity in the labor market, and increasing the Kingdom’s competitiveness to attract global talent.

The initiative seeks to eliminate and solve some challenges, including: the failure of limited groups of business owners to abide by the rights of expatriate workers, which negatively affects the attractiveness of the labor market, as it is expected that the regulations and regulations will be developed to guarantee the rights of expatriates in addition to reducing the gap in competitiveness of expatriates compared to With the citizens, by activating the basic services of the initiative, which will contribute to increasing the productivity of expatriates in the labor market. The initiative also aims to prevent some negative activities carried out by some, including the black market for runaway workers and violations, in addition to violations that are internationally classified as falling under the clause of human trafficking.

It is noteworthy that the sponsor system in the Kingdom was issued in 1371 AH with the aim of organizing the relationship between the expatriate worker and the employer, through the mediation of recruitment agencies, as the system decided that the moment the worker arrives in the Kingdom, he becomes obligated to work for his sponsor in accordance with the terms of the contract, and he is only entitled to move to work for others On his loan for a specified period, or through the transfer of his guarantee.

According to the system, the employer is theoretically responsible for the sponsored person socially, securely, and professionally, as most of the sponsored's transactions with government agencies are done through the sponsor, and even some of his other dealings, such as opening an account, obtaining a driver's license, or requesting the recruitment of his wife and children, as the sponsor maintains With the worker's passport, and it is not permissible for him to leave the country without his permission, and if a dispute occurs between the two parties, the labor offices and the competent authorities shall be responsible for that.

The system went through a set of changes and updates that regulate the legal, moral and financial work between the two parties, but a significant percentage of sponsors misused this system, which led to calls from international organizations to cancel the system.
 

BATMAN

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It's good and timely move.
New generation of Saudis need to go in to digital business.
 

Scorpion

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It's good and timely move.
New generation of Saudis need to go in to digital business.

It should have been done long ago. The old system has not contributed in any way to the economy of the country.
 
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