A Chinese company, which was found earlier this year to have committed several labor-law violations, has been ordered to pay end-of-service awards and vacation entitlements to several of its Saudi employees. The Primary Commission for the Settlement of Labor Disputes, an affiliate of the Labor Office in the Eastern Province, forced the company make the payments after employees said in their lawsuit that it did not meet its obligations or implement labor regulations. Hadi Al-Muhsin, one of the complainants, said company was forced to pay amounts reaching SR11,000. Al-Muhsin said he worked for the company for more than six years and when he went to collect his end-of-service award and vacation allowance, he learned that the company tampered with the calculations. It counted the end-of-service award at the rate of five days per year of work and deprived him of vacation entitlements he had not taken for the last six years, he added. The labor law stipulates that the end-of-service award is to be counted at the rate of 10 days per year if the worker has served for more than five years, 20 days for the sixth year and a basic salary for every month of vacation the employee has not taken. Al-Muhsin said the representative of the Chinese company refused to comply with the directives and labor regulations, which led the Labor Office to refer the case to the Commission. Okaz/Saudi Gazette telephoned the director of the Labor Office in Al-Khobar Governorate but he refused to comment. This is the second time this year that officials have determined that the company violated employment laws. About four months ago, Saudi officials forced the company to issue medical insurance cards to its Saudi employees and their families —10 years after employing them — in the wake of more than 40 Saudis filing an official complaint at the Labor Office in Al
