Ministry allows workers at idle projects to change sponsorship

Riyadh: Construction workers based at stalled projects will now be allowed to transfer their sponsorship to new companies at the state's expense, according to an announcement from the Ministry of Labor on Tuesday. Labor Minister Adel Fakeih said that this is in accordance with a decision made by the Council of Ministers that helps new contractors to transfer their skilled workers through a government sponsored scheme. The new rule will apply only to laborers, technicians and supervisors of non-performing projects, the minister said. The minister also said that the new contractors who wish to make use of the new service are requested to follow a set of guidelines given by the Labor Ministry which provide the necessary information regarding their respective projects and their manpower requirements. In any such application for the transfer of sponsorship for workers, the new contractor should indicate the new projects undertaken by his company, the nature of the work involved, and the number of required employees with respect to categories, salaries and employment contracts. He also said that the transfer of such cases will be scanned on a case by case basis for approval or rejection. Even though the consent of the former sponsor is not required for the new arrangement, the concerned workers should not have been involved in any disciplinary actions, and should not be involved in financial fraud cases related to the previous company. Saudi nationals who were working with an alternate previous contractor will be also allowed to work under new contracts as per this ruling, provided they are given the same salary and terms of employment as with their previous employer. -arabnews