Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2010, published 100th ILC session (2011)

Labour Inspection Convention, 1947 (No. 81) - Saudi Arabia (Ratification: 1978)

Article 3(1)(a) of the Convention. Enforcement of the legal provisions relating to payment of wages. Also referring to its observation, the Committee notes the statistical information on incoming and resolved cases at primary instances in 2008, and in the first semester of 2009 (7,162 cases have been settled in 2008, and 4,533 cases in the first semester of 2009). However, the Committee notes that this is a global number of inspection cases and not only workers to whom arrears of wages have been paid. As regards the procedure for recovering arrears, the Committee notes the existence of a committee composed of several governmental bodies, under the presidency of the administrative ruler and with the membership of the Ministry of Labour (represented by the local committee of wages settlement), which is entrusted with the issue of the arrears of wages and the seizure of the assets of an accountant of an undertaking, with which he has a contractual agreement. In case of bankruptcy, the worker shall be required to submit a complaint to the Labour Office. Consequently, the latter shall refer the matter to the committee responsible for wage settlement, which in turn makes a seizure on the assets of the accountant of an undertaking, and pays the workers their full wages.

The Committee hopes that the Government will provide information in its next report on the number of workers to whom arrears of wages have been paid, pursuant to Circular No. 8174/6 of 27/4/1425H (2005) on the application of the provisions of the law relating to wages, and provide a description of the procedure for recovering arrears, specifying the role played in practice by labour inspectors.

As regards the penalty that consists in depriving offending employers of computer services, the Committee notes that the Government does not describe the services in question. It indicates that, although no relevant legal provision exists, such measures are taken by the Ministry to oblige an employer to respond to his duties as set out in the provisions of the Labour Code. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would provide details on the kind of computer services that employers in breach are deprived from as well as the impact of such measures as a deterrent.

Articles 7 and 10. Training needs in the area of occupational safety and health and strengthening of the labour inspection staff. With reference to its previous comments, the Committee notes the Government’s statement that the Ministry is currently facing a problem which is reflected in the poor number of occupational safety and health specialists. It is for this reason that the Ministry of Labour deploys huge efforts so as to find specialists, or train employees specialized in this area. It further indicates that it will keep the Office informed on new developments on this matter. As regards geographical distribution by category of serving inspection staff, the Committee notes that the Ministry has currently 186 labour inspectors distributed in 13 regions. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would provide details on the training programmes carried out to the benefit of the different categories of labour inspectors during the period covered by the next report and to indicate the measures taken to strengthen the labour inspection staff so as to increase the coverage of the workplaces liable to labour inspection and ensure the protection of the workers employed therein.