Saudi Gazette report RIYADH — Companies in the low green Nitaqat zone can now transfer Iqamas (residence permits) of employees from establishments in the same level as well as from the yellow and red Nitaqat entities, according to a decision issued earlier this week by Labor Minister Mufrej Al-Haqbani. The decision, according to the Saudi Press Agency (SPA), will cancel all the previous decisions which may contradict it. Ahmed Al-Humaidan, undersecretary of the Ministry for Labor policies, said in a statement on Monday that the decision will not hinder the low green Nitaqat establishments from transferring workers from firms in all other zones without the sponsor's consent if the Iqamas and work permits of employees have expired and not renewed. He said the workers who have not been issued work permits three months after their arrival in the Kingdom can also switch establishments in various Nitaqat zones with the approval of the incumbent sponsor. The undersecretary, however, said the decision will not enable the low green Nitaqat companies from transferring workers to them from small establishments. “In this case, the approval of the current employer will be needed,” he said. The ministry asked all businessmen to acquaint themselves with the decision and to benefit from it by visiting its website. The ministry has already postponed the third phase of the Nitaqat Saudization program which was scheduled to begin on April 20 (Rajab 1). According to the postponed third phase of Nitaqat, the downstream industries need to raise the Saudization rate from 25 percent to 41 percent, big retail and wholesale firms from 29 percent to 44 percent and other big commercial establishments from 29 percent to 66 percent. It also wants small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to increase the number of Saudi workers gradually within a timeframe. Reports showed that the ratios of Saudi workers at a company will be considered based on a monthly average of 26 weeks instead of 13 calculated earlier. Under the prior 13-week regulations, the Saudization percentage was calculated by counting a new Saudi employee as a one-third employee in the first month, two-thirds in the second month, and a full employee in the third month. But under Nitaqat three, any Saudi recruited will be counted as one from the first month.
