BURAIDAH — The Ministry of Labor and Social Development has forced a cleaning and maintenance company to release overdue paychecks to 450 male and female workers. A labor inspection team dispatched to the company›s premises after worker unrest tracked down a number of violations at the company, in addition to the delay in payment of workers› salaries. Hamad Al-Jahil, director of the labor office in Unaizah, said the office received several complaints from the workers who had stopped work saying they had not received their salaries for months. The inspectors asked a representative of the workers and a company official to be present while looking into the case, added Al-Jahil. They found the workers› reluctance to work was due to the fact that the company had withheld their monthly salaries. The company was forced to release the overdue salaries to the workers, who returned to work shortly afterward, Al-Jahil said. Ahmed Al-Wateed, director general of the ministry›s branch in Al-Qassim province, warned all private firms against delaying the payment of workers› salaries. He pointed out that delaying wages is a violation of the Labor Law, which will invite severe government sanctions.
