Dubai: Saudi Arabia has started imposing
sanctions on companies that have not constituted at least 7-8
per cent of their workforce with Saudi nationals as per the
country's new nationalisation programme, according to a news
report.
The Nitaqat programme was initiated by the Ministry of
Labour to increase the number of Saudi nationals working in
the private sector.
According to the Arab News report, the programme is being
implemented alongside the new Hafiz system, which was also
initiated by the Labour Ministry.
This programme grants every Saudi national looking for a
job a monthly allowance of 2,000 Saudi riyals.
Private companies seeking to implement Saudisation to
improve their Nitaqat status encounter major problems due to
the simultaneous implementation of the two systems.
Saudis who get the allowance are unwilling to accept a
job for 2,000 riyals or less, said the report.
The system categorises companies in three zones. In the
first category, the so-called green group, are the companies
that have succeeded in employing enough Saudis.
The yellow group faces a medium threat, while the red
group is now under the focus of the Ministry of Labour and
faces sanctions that include prohibiting them from obtaining
new work visas, starting a new branch or transferring a
non-Saudi to its sponsorship.
PTI
First Published: Wednesday, November 30, 2011, 11:10