RIYADH — The Human Resources Development Fund (HADAF), under the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development, has approved a new regulation aimed at preventing violations of its Private Employment Support system. A recent meeting of the board of directors of HADAF adopted the regulation that stipulates stringent punitive measures against those who violate the provisions of the regulation. The punitive measures include suspending the account of the establishment or beneficiary in the HADAF's automated system and recovering the support amount subject to the violation or all amounts disbursed to the beneficiary or establishment, in addition to canceling the support request and terminating the support agreement. The Private Employment Support system aims to support Saudi jobseekers in the private sector through the HADAF paying a proportion of the employee's wages. It includes support for all jobs in the private sector for full-time period. The regulation cites the procedures for monitoring and proving violations, and it allows HADAF to impose one or more penalties on the violator. The regulation stipulates that there is a possibility of considering lifting the suspension of services in the event that the violator returns the support amounts and complies with all corrective measures. The regulation also allows approaching HADAF with their grievances against violation decisions within a period of 60 days from the date of notification of the decision. The new regulation aims to preserve public money and bring down violations of the provisions of the regulation and misuse of the employment support through establishing a regulatory framework for these violations, clarifying the procedures for proving them and the penalties resulting from them, as well as the procedures for recovering the support amounts disbursed in the event of committing any violations, and the mechanism to lodge grievance against the punitive measures. Under the new regulation, the HADAF officials will follow up on the implementation of support programs through field visits to establishments, as well as ensuring submission of bank documents proving that the support has been transferred to the beneficiary's bank account or via the Madad platform, apart from reviewing and examining documents related to support agreements and beneficiaries, communicating directly with beneficiaries and meeting them, and verifying the accuracy of the data provided regarding the support. The HADAF reiterated its emphasis and keenness on the necessity of adhering to the controls and requirements for benefiting from support programs and products and the terms of the agreements. This is in an effort to achieve the desired benefit from the programs and products in enabling Saudi jobseekers to obtain jobs and motivating establishments to continue undertaking, developing and advancing their businesses.
