The Council of Ministers of Saudi Arabia adopted a resolution dated 03/06/1444H (corresponding to 27 December 2022G) clarifying the consequences in terms of eligibility to compete for government contracts for companies that fail to locate their Regional Headquarters (“RHQ”) in Saudi Arabia. This clarification has been anticipated for some time, since the Kingdom first announced at the end of 2020 that multinationals wishing to continue contracting with the government would need to locate their RHQs…
In brief Employers have been facing many difficult and untested employment law issues over the last year and a half with COVID-19 and the impact it is having on their business. One of the most critical of these issues is whether they can make vaccination compulsory for their employees. On 7 May 2021, the Saudi Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development (“MHRSD”) announced that it would be mandatory for public and private sector workers…
Today, 4 November 2020, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development (“MHRSD”) of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia launched the Labor Reform Initiative under the National Transformation Program to enhance the contractual relationship between employees and employers in the Kingdom. It applies to all foreign national employees working in the private sector and will come into effect on 14 March 2021. Key features include: Transfer of employee without the current employer’s consent.Travel outside the…
In brief Recent developments in the labour laws of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia and Bahrain have been issued to bridge the gender- pay gap between men and women. The updates have been in relation to: (i) prohibiting discrimination, whether in pay or otherwise, between male and female employees who carry out the same job in the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain; (ii) introducing paternity leave in the UAE; and (iii) granting female…
Over the last few days, there have been a number of significant developments in Saudi Arabia that the government is instituting to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on the private sector. These are in addition to the general government initiatives to assist small and medium sized enterprises that we previously reported on 22 March 2020, and the seven Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development (MHRSD) initiatives for all private sector entities, including lifting the…