Mahmoud Ahmad The recent news that the Ministry of Justice will be establishing labor courts by the beginning of the Islamic Hijra year is music to the ears of many. The establishment of commercial courts — to look into cases of trade disputes and violation of trade regulations, such as fraud and price hikes — will follow soon after the labor courts starts functioning. According to the news, a committee has reviewed the laws of these courts to make sure they are carefully implemented. It will receive the necessary training and will be supported by the administrative staff. It is reported that the Justice Ministry has trained the required number of judges to manage these labor courts. A labor court will have a judge and two consultants. The creation of labor courts is a step that many have been waiting for a very long time. We have many hopes for this court to put an end to the injustice faced by many employees, whether Saudi or expats, under the hands of their employers or between employers. It will also put an end to the stalling of many cases at courts and will help expedite justice. There are cases that have remained unsolved for years. The fact that these courts are being founded is great news, but one thing needs to be made clear is the information on how it will function and the procedures people have to take to institute or state their case. For this clarity of the procedures and the needed documents should be set. It should be circulated to every firm in order for the people to have knowledge of their duties and rights and when a case can be registered so as to stop many from attempting to waste the court's time with frivolous cases. Previously there were sets of rules that had to be followed if a case had to be admitted and pleaded before a judgment, and many either did not know the rules or about the needed documents or found out the different sets of rules that they had to abide by or fulfill as the case wound its way through the court. This led to major delays. The special labor courts will tackle one of the previous problems of delayed verdict. This was not caused by the courts, but the litigants themselves — either the employee feels that he has neither the time or money to continue the case in court for long or the employers simply absent themselves on the court date — to throw a wrench in the court's work. A specialized labor court will ease the pressure on the general court and will direct cases to the specialized body that will take care of such cases and help in achieving quick justice. I remember reading sometimes back a case of an expat teacher who was victimized by his school which terminated his contract and did not give him his financial dues. The victim went to court seeking justice but the school kept stalling the case, in one pretext or another, knowing fully well that the victim cannot afford any delay. The case went back and forth in court but at the end the expat gave up and had to leave back to his country because the more he stays the more he loses. Another common case that we see most of the time is expats not being paid on time and sometimes their salaries being delayed for months. How many times have we seen poor expat workers, already working for low salaries, yet not being paid on time and in some cases their salaries being delayed for months on end. Such cases should be taken seriously in the new labor court and such companies should be punished and to be made an example to other companies which are thinking to commit such an act. A swift and stiff penalty would be a quick deterrent. There is good percentage of companies operating in the Kingdom taking advantage of the ignorance of their employees of their rights and duties and tend to victimize them. There is an impression in the minds of many employees that seeking justice from court will be of no help because of the long procedures and because the companies exploit loopholes in winning cases. The major one being issuing verbal assurances while not giving anything in writing. The court needs to put an end to companies and Saudi employers delaying court cases by not showing up to court. Judges in most cases postpone the session to a later date, which at the end will only harm the victims in this case. They should be made to appear by force and they should be fined if they do not show up on time, or fail to show up. According to statistics published in January of this year in Al-Madinah daily, there were 1,400 labor cases pending in Jeddah special Labor Ministry Committee. Only 36 percent of these cases are solved every year, according to the Labor Ministry statistics. What we want from these specialized labor court is to put an end to the general perception in the mind of many that there is no way to win against a Saudi employer or against a big company when in court. It is about time that these courts will hand out speedy verdicts — both for Saudis and expat workers. It is about time that we put an end to the reputation we have developed internationally that expat workers are generally victims or are always victimized. Such special labor courts — where speed and justice is of the essence — will bring peace and stability and job security to the employees. For they will know that when they are victimized, they can find swift justice. — Mahmoud Ahmad can be reaced at [email protected]
