Article Saudi Arabia: Ministry Updates Online Foreign-Worker Hiring Platform, Amends Regulation on Workers' Transfer

On November 15, 2022, the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development issued a decision to expand its Musaned (Supportive) foreign-worker online hiring platform. Previously, in June 2022, the ministry had amended a ministerial resolution regulating the transfer of domestic workers from one employer to another.

Purpose of the Online Platform

The aim of the Musaned platform is to simplify the process of hiring foreign workers by allowing the notarization of employment contracts electronically. The platform permits both the employer and the domestic worker not only to notarize employment contracts but also to verify their contractual obligations in the contract, the amount of the worker’s salary, and the duration of the worker’s employment. The platform also aims at informing domestic workers of their rights under the labor laws of the kingdom.

Ministerial Resolution on the Transfer of Domestic Workers from One Employer to Another

On June 29, 2022, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development amended the ministerial resolution regulating the transfer of domestic workers from one employer to another.

In order for a domestic worker to work for a different employer, the worker must first obtain permission from the original employer. The new amendment creates a number of exceptions where a domestic worker is allowed to move to a second employer without obtaining advance permission from the first one, including the following:

• The employer withholds the worker’s wage for a period of three months.
• The employer does not meet the needs of the domestic worker.
• The employer does not provide adequate housing accommodations to the domestic worker upon the worker’s arrival.
• The employer assigns the domestic worker to work for people other than the employer.
• The employer or someone else within the household abuses the domestic worker.
• The domestic worker files a complaint against the employer and the employer fails to provide sufficient evidence to dismiss the worker’s complaint.
• The employer does not renew the domestic worker’s work permit within 30 days from its expiration date.
• The employer does not attend a worker-employer mediation session.
• The employer does not have an appropriate work permit to hire the domestic worker.
• The employer is unavailable for a long period to pay the worker’s salary.
• The employer forces the domestic worker to work in dangerous working conditions.

The government allows the transfer of domestic workers between employers with the approval of both employers and the domestic worker. To be able to move from one employer to another, the domestic worker must not have any active violations in their file at the Ministry of Labor. The violations could also include traffic infractions or abandoning other jobs without giving advance notice to employers.