21 Days Time to Settle Labor Disputes

Ministry of Justice in Saudi Arabia have given 21 days time for Labor courts to settlte all labor disputes as per the new mechanism across the kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

If settlement is not done within these 21 days then the Labor Offices should submit the cases electronically to Labor courts as per the Ministry of Justice

All the Labor disputes must first dealt with Labor courts.

Labor Cases classified into 3 Categories:

• Employee Employer Disputes
• Cases concerning Domestic workers
• Employer Complaint againts GOSI for registration
• Employee Complaint againts GOSI for Compensation

In the first category, employee or the employer has to file a case with the competent labor office seeking an amicable settlement in accordance with the directives issued by the Council of Ministers. If there is no settlement within 21 days, the labor office has to report electronically the status of the dispute to the labor court for taking necessary judicial procedures.

In the case of domestic workers, the complaint of domestic workers or that of employers shall be referred to a committee for reconciliation within five days. In the event of a failure to reach a settlement, the committee will pronounce its decision within 10 days. There is a provision to appeal against the decision of the committee at the labor court electronically.

The complaints of workers and employers against the decisions of GOSI have to go through three phases. First, the employee or the employer has to file a case with the competent agency under GOSI. Then the clients can appeal the decision of the agency to GOSI. If the appeal is overturned, the employee or employer can approach the labor court.