Saleh Al-Zahrani Okaz/Saudi Gazette JEDDAH – The Ministry of Labor will start putting small firms under the ambit of the Nitaqat Program at the beginning of Jumad Al-Awwal (mid-March). The program makes it incumbent upon a company to employ one Saudi national in an establishment with a staff strength of less than nine. On his FaceBook, Adel Fakieh, Minister of Labor, said his ministry does not demand of the Saudi owner to register himself in the General Organization for Social Insurance (GOSI), as he is registered automatically if he has not been registered in any other enterprise. Fakieh attributed the decision to the ministry's fears that tens of thousands of expatriates will be provided cover-up (Tasattur) and assisted to open restaurants, laundry shops and barber shops, thus curtailing job opportunities for Saudi nationals in the labor market. He added that Tasattur leads to big losses to the national economy. Any establishment not implementing the decision will be placed under the red zone in Nitaqat. Successful enterprises will be counted in the green zone. Fakieh said the beginning of implementation of salary Nitaqat Program will begin mid-February. The regulation in this regard stipulates that the monthly salary of the Saudi worker should be at least SR3000 in order to be fully counted in the Saudization percentage. This will be followed by the stage for comparing the salaries of Saudi workers with those of expatriates.
