Employment in Saudi Arabia — a new facade, but the same old master-slave relationship
By: Sebastian Farmborough
Tags: Kafala, Employment, Foreign Workers, Slavery, Saudi Arabia

Employment in Saudi Arabia — a new facade, but the same old master-slave relationship Sebastian Farmborough May 8·5 min read

In 2019 the Ministry of Labour underwent a makeover and became the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development. A transition that may have given employees across the Kingdom hope that they may begin to be treated as a resource and a human rather than just labour.

On March the 14th 2021, the long awaited amendments to the employer-employee relationship came into effect and Arab News published an article entitled: “Expat workers rejoice as Saudi Arabia’s labor reforms usher in new era.” (https://www.arabnews.com/node/1825046/saudi-arabia)

The article went on to state: “Under changes to the kafala sponsorship system, foreign workers in the private sector will have improved job mobility, and be able to change jobs and leave the country without employers’ consent.”

Regrettably, this is not true. There is no ‘new era’ as they put it. Once your employer has issued a final exit visa, only they can cancel it. Where is the ‘improved job mobility’? Where is the ability ‘to change jobs without employers’ consent’?

Granting sponsors this level of power over their employees enables the extortion of money for visa transfers as the final exit visa must first be cancelled prior to the transfer. Mine asked for $6,666.66. Quite an apt number given the malevolent nature of the request.

When you convey this to Ministry officials they typically respond: “Oh no, that’s illegal.” But none of them actually do anything about it. One Labour Office employee even told a colleague of mine to pay it. Disgraceful really, it was his job to protect him, not act as an accomplice. Why does the sponsor have this power in the first place? There are so many crooks in Saudi Arabia. Of course they will use it to their advantage.

When I stop to think about it, my situation is quite ridiculous. My sponsor was 10 months late in making my end of service payment, which by law should have been paid within 1 week of the completion of the contract. I won a case against him, proving that he broke the law. Subsequently, he was not punished and I have received no compensation for the now 14 months that I have been prevented from working for another company.

How on earth does a sponsor that has been proven to have broken the law still have the right to prevent the employee they have wronged from transferring? It is an inverted system that rewards those of the criminal persuasion. Perhaps this is exactly how many powerful business owners like it. It may benefit them in the short-term, but the country itself will continue to struggle with efficiency and quality.

A real challenge in Saudi Arabia, be it in the street, on the road or in a public office is that you routinely have to deal with an abundance of people with a complete lack of empathy for their fellow man. What if it was their end of service payment that was 10 months late? What if they were prevented from working for 14 months? It does not even cross their mind.

The exploitation and abuse is by no means exclusive to foreign workers, many Saudi employees also suffer from not being paid according to their contracts, but at least they have the freedom to move to someone decent.

As employees in the Kingdom we are not asking for a system that is biased towards us. All we want is one that is just for both parties. Is that really too much to ask?

Arab News’ article of the 14th of March 2021 called the new system a ‘dramatic overhaul’, yes there are new buildings, younger, more educated staff. However, the reality is that little has changed from the camel market the Labour Office always has been. There will be those that say the comparison is harsh, but go there for yourself and you will see exactly what I mean. You are sent from desk to desk, door to door, building to building with little accomplished. They have absolutely no qualms about wasting your time and it is all seems to be in the hope that you will lose motivation and give up the fight. Did King Abdullah spend billions of dollars educating his people abroad just for that?

I empathise with the Labour Office somewhat, because the real problem lies with the Labour Courts and their lack of law enforcement. My own case took 7 and a half months to reach a verdict and in spite of winning, even after 10 months I had not received the money I was owed. It was only after writing this article: (https://medium.com/@sebastianfarmborough/saudi-arabia-while-the-rights-of-saudi-women-ascend-the-plight-of-foreigners-continues-de37ac52ce40) that a high level member of the Ministry got involved and pressured my sponsor into paying. Otherwise, I would probably still be waiting for the court to deliver some semblance of justice.

Having been through the system, I really would have to question whether it is all just job creation; giving thousands of Saudis some papers to push around rather than have them sitting at home, unemployed. The majority of the ministry employees you come across do little to counter the prevalent exploitation, injustice and corruption.

The solution is simple, all the Labour Courts would need to do is enforce their own, existing laws; employers would be afraid of the consequences of abusing their employees and there would be a dramatic reduction in the number of enquiries and complaints made in the Labour Office.

The culture of corruption and nepotism can be left behind if the desire is sufficient.

I, myself was sceptical about the proposed amendments prior to the 14th of March 2021: “So, is this another smokescreen, a cosmetic alteration designed to keep the international pressure and indignation at bay?” (https://medium.com/@sebastianfarmborough/saudi-arabia-the-clouds-of-change-may-have-arrived-but-it-certainly-hasnt-started-to-rain-not-2a32ddcb7edc)

In this regard, Saudi Arabia’s government has been fortunate with the timing of the pandemic as it has shifted the previously intense international media spotlight away from the widespread exploitation of its workers. In spite of the pandemic worsening that hardship I am yet to see a single article that addresses how these amendments are operating in practice.

The Kingdom’s Labour Reform Initiative claims to seek to provide “a competitive and fair working environment.” But let us be honest; to this day an employer can pay or not pay their employee as they please, and with respect to foreigners they can continue to prevent them from working for anyone else. Essentially, nothing has changed; the master-slave relationship is still very much alive.

One of the most significant impediments to improvement in Saudi Arabia is the government’s innate desire to spend half their time congratulating themselves on what a great job they are doing, instead of objectively assessing the reality. That is not how you build a great country.

https://sebastianfarmborough.com/