Hiring of house worker under age of 21 prohibited; SR20,000 fine for erring employer Saudi Arabia unveils features of new Regulation for Domestic Workers

JEDDAH — It is prohibited to hire house workers under the age of 21, according to the new Regulation for Domestic Workers.
The regulations stipulate that a maximum fine of SR20000 will be slapped on the employer in the event of violation of any provisions of the Regulation, Okaz/Saudi Gazette has learned from the details of the Regulation published on Friday in the Saudi official Umm Al-Qura Gazette.
The Regulation on Domestic Workers and the Like revealed that the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development (MHRSD) is the authority to receive complaints, settle them amicably, and monitor the violations committed by the employer or domestic worker without prejudicing the other rules in the Regulation.
According to the rules, all stipulated periods and dates are calculated in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, unless otherwise stated in the domestic work contract.
Any condition, reconciliation, or exoneration that violates the provisions of the Regulation will be deemed null and void during the validity period of the domestic work contract, unless it is more beneficial to the domestic worker.
According to the Regulation, the amounts owed to the domestic worker or his heirs are considered first-degree privileged debts, and in order to collect them, the worker and his heirs have a lien on all the assets of the employer.
The competent court will not entertain any lawsuit filed by the worker, claiming one of the rights stipulated in the Regulation or arising from the work contract, after 12 months from the date of expiry of the contract, unless the plaintiff provides an acceptable excuse or the defendant acknowledge the right of the worker.
Domestic work contract
According to Article 7 of the Regulation, the provisions of the domestic work contract between the two parties are regulated under the concluded contract in accordance with the mandatory contract models determined by MHRSD.
The approved text of the contract will be in Arabic and is translated into the domestic worker's official language. The contract is considered valid even if it is not a written one.
The contract must be for a limited duration, and if it is devoid of a statement of its duration, it is considered as a concluded one and renewable for a period of one year from the date of commencement of duty.
In Article 8, the Regulation stresses that the work contract must include the following essential elements:
A — The type of work that the domestic worker is obligated to perform.
B — The name of the two parties (employer and worker), their nationality, place of residence, their email ID, contact numbers, information of a close person, and the national address of the employer.
C — The date of concluding the contract and its effective date.
D — The wage that the employer is obligated to pay to the worker and the method of performance.
E— The rights and obligations of both parties and duration of the probation period.
G — Regulating daily working hours, weekly off, overtime working hours, and cases of assigning duty other than what was agreed upon in the contract.
H — The duration of the contract and how to extend and terminate it.
I — Insurance for the worker.
According to Article 9, the two parties may agree in writing with regard to probation of the worker for a period not exceeding 90 days, during which the employer has the right to verify the professional competence of the worker and the soundness of his/her personal conduct, and both parties have the right to terminate the contract during the probation period.
Working hours and vacation
Article 10 of the Regulation prohibits more than 10 hours of work in a day, and working hours and rest periods should be regulated in a way the worker does not work for more than five consecutive hours without a period for rest, worship, and food of no less than half an hour at a time during the total working hours. There should be at least eight-hour continuous daily rest period in a day.
Article 11 affirms the right of the worker to obtain a weekly off day with full pay, not less than 24 consecutive hours. In the event the worker is employed in his weekly rest day, he has the right to an alternative rest day or a cash allowance determined by an agreement of both parties.
Article 12 stressed that if the worker's service is for two years and if both parties wish to renew the contract, the worker is entitled to a 30-day vacation, and if the worker does not enjoy vacation, he is entitled to compensation in cash for it.
Upon the end of the contractual relationship, and whenever the worker completes two years of work, he is entitled to a return travel ticket to his home country. In the event of the travel on a final exit, he is entitled to one-way ticket only and if he enjoys vacation in Saudi Arabia, he is not entitled to a travel ticket or cash compensation for it.
Article 13 stipulates that the domestic worker is entitled to sick leave not exceeding 30 continuous or intermittent days on the basis of a medical report. The first 15 days will be with full pay and the remaining 15 days with half pay.
The employer also has the right to terminate the contract if the worker's illness exceeds more than 30 days, along with bearing the ticket to return to his country after settling all his dues and allowances.
As for Article 14, it emphasizes the provision of healthcare to the worker in accordance with the Saudi regulations.
Rights and duties of worker and employer
Article 15 spells out the rights of the worker and obligations of the employer. The employer has to bear the fees for recruitment, changing profession, and transferring services to him, as well as the fees for the issuance and renewal of work permit, residency permit (iqama), and any other fees. The employer shall not keep the worker's passport or any of his personal documents and belongings.
The employer is obligated not to physically or verbally assault or do any act of violence towards the worker, and to refrain from doing any discrimination related to color, sex, age, ethnicity, or any other forms as well as sexual harassment or forced labor or any other activity that falls within the scope of trafficking in persons.
The employer is also obligated to enable the worker to communicate with his family, his country's embassy, and human resources companies and the competent authorities. He must provide a suitable place for the worker to live in within or outside the workplace, and to provide appropriate food or financial compensation for it.
The employer is also obligated not to assign the worker to any dangerous work that threatens his health, safety and dignity.
It is also not allowed for the employer to recruit the worker without having a job for him, and not to allow or assign to work for others or for the worker's own account, or to work other than the profession for which he was recruited.
Article 16 also includes the obligations of the worker, and that include the following: perform the agreed upon work and to exercise the usual care in doing so; follow the orders of the employer and his family members, unless these orders contain anything that contradicts the employment contract or the provisions of the country's regulations, public order, or public morals, or anything that exposes him to danger or legal accountability.
The worker must preserve the property of the employer and members of his family and must not commit physical or verbal assault or violence to employer or family members.
The worker has also to preserve the secrets and privacies of the employer and members of family and not to divulge them to others. He should not to work for his own account or for those other than sponsor, or work other than that stipulated in his employment contract.
Domestic worker's wages
Article 17 of the Regulation stipulates that the domestic worker's wage and dues must be paid in the Saudi currency, while Article 18 required the employer to pay the wage monthly. As for Article 19, it stipulates that the worker is not entitled to wages for the days or hours during which he is absent from work.
Article 20 stressed that it is not permissible to deduct from the worker's wages, except in the following cases and that should not to exceed a quarter of the wage: the costs of what he deliberately or negligently destroyed; an advance he obtained from the employer; the money involved in the implementation of a judicial ruling or administrative decision issued against him unless it has been stated in the judicial ruling or administrative decision that the deduction shall exceed a quarter of the wage.
Article 21 revealed the circumstances in which the work contract ends, and these include the expiry of the contract term; the agreement of both parties to terminate it provided that the worker's consent is in writing; the death of one of the parties or the inability of the worker to perform the work and loss of legal capacity by one of the parties according to a medical report from the approved authorities; inability of one or both parties to complete the work contract due to force majeure; and the worker reaching the age of 60 years unless both parties agree otherwise.
As for Article 22, it confirms that the worker is entitled, upon the expiry of the contract, to an end-of-service allowance worth one month's wages for every four consecutive years he spent with the employer. The last wage is taken as the basis for calculation, and its payment is made on its due date upon the end of the contractual relationship.
Article 23 stipulates that if the worker's service ends, employer must pay his wages and settle his rights within a week from the date of expiry of the contract. However, if the worker is the one who terminated the contract, the employer must settle his rights in full within a period not exceeding two weeks.
According to Article 24, the domestic worker shall bear the costs of his return travel to his country in the event that he is found unfit to work or if he wishes to return without a legitimate reason, while Article 25 stipulates that unless the work contract includes specific compensation in exchange for termination of contract by one of the parties due to an illegal reason, the other party deserves compensation amounting to two months' wages in the event of termination.
Article 26 stipulates that the employer may not terminate the contract without the worker being entitled to an end-of-service reward or compensation except in the following cases: If the worker breaches his essential obligations stipulated in the contract or in the labor regulations, or refusing to perform work without a legitimate reason despite being given a written warning.
The cases also include if the worker intentionally commits any act intended to cause material loss to the employer provided that the employer informs the competent authorities about the incident within 24 hours from the time he learns of its occurrence, or if it is proven that the worker obtained the job through fraudulent means or if it is proven that the domestic worker has exhibited bad behavior or committed a dishonest act or if the worker assaults the employer or a member of his family, or engages in an activity that harms the employer or his family members.
According to Article 27, the worker has the right to terminate the contract with the employer while retaining his statutory rights, in any of the following cases: If the employer breaches his fundamental obligations stipulated in the contract or if it is proven that the employer or his representative committed fraud at the time of contracting with regard to the terms and conditions of work or if he is subjected to an assault or immoral behavior by the employer or by a member of his family or if the employer or his representative assigns him to dangerous work that threatens his health or safety or if the employer rents his services to others.
Article 28 stipulates that both parties must adhere to occupational safety and health requirements in accordance with the rules formulated by the MHRSD and that compensation for work injuries and occupational diseases must be paid in accordance with the provisions stipulated in the insurance policy.
Penalties and fines
As for penalties, Article 29 revealed that, without prejudice to the penalties contained in other regulations, the employer who violates the provisions of the Regulation shall be penalized with a fine not exceeding SR20,000 or a ban on recruitment for a period not more than three years, or both or permanently preventing the violator from being undertaken the recruitment.
The penalty imposed on the violator may be doubled if the violation is repeated. The fines shall be multiplied according to the number of persons involved in the violation.
Article 30 of the Regulation confirms that, without prejudice to the penalties contained in other regulations, the worker who violates the provisions of the Regulations shall be penalized with a fine not exceeding SR2,000, or being prevented from working in Saudi Arabia, or both.
The fines multiply according to the number of proven violations against the worker and such worker shall bear the costs of return travel to his/her country.