JEDDAH: Over 100 Filipinos working for a company involved in the Haramain Train project have submitted a complaint to the Labor Office in Jeddah demanding payment of holiday allowance and protesting other breaches of contract and Labor Law. According to Al-Hayat Arabic daily, the workers say their employer has failed to comply with the conditions of their contracts which they signed in the Philippines before coming to Jeddah. They say the breaches of contract include failing to heed conditions that they work no more than eight hours a day, the failure to pay some 390 hours of overtime and living allowances, and the failure to provide drivers with driving licenses. The workers are also demanding the payment of three months' salary which they say they have not received, and the reimbursement of visas fees which were deducted from their pay previously. The employees say, according to Al-Hayat, that the situation has been “going on for a long time”. Under Saudi Labor Law the employing company is liable for the costs of recruitment of workers from abroad, iqama residency permit and driving license fees and their renewal, entry and exit visa fees, and a final exit flight ticket back to the country of origin.
