The Labor Office in Jeddah has rejected a decision by King Abdulaziz University to not compensate employees under the self-financing program, which provides temporary employment without benefits given to permanent employees. In a petition submitted to the Ministry of Labor, 76 employees, who worked for several years in temporary positions, demanded that KAU gives them permanent jobs. They also sought SR35 million in compensation for the years they worked without benefits. In the session held Monday with a KAU representative present, the Ministry of Labor rejected a contention that the employees' files were lost in the flood that hit Jeddah in November 2009. The ministry has set the middle of the month as its deadline for issuing an irrevocable final verdict to require that KAU meet the demands of the 76 employees. In a related development, Dr. Adnan Al-Mazrau, KAU deputy president, has ordered that 175 security guards working under this program will be transferred to the university's new branches in Al-Kamel, Khlais and Rabigh. The transferred employees expressed anger over the decision and said that despite their considerable experience, they are being transferred in temporary jobs rather than being placed in permanent positions that are vacant.
