Saudi labor reform initiative excludes five professions

Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development said that the Labor Reform Initiative (LRI) does not include five jobs, namely private drivers, guards, household workers, care workers and garden keepers, Okaz newspaper reported.

The ministry launched, on Nov. 4, LRI to organize the contractual relationship between employers and expatriate workers in the labor market.

The new initiative, which falls under the Kingdom’s National Transformation Program (NTP), seeks to build a new attractive market in order to develop skilled workforce.

The initiative, which will come into effect on March 14, 2021, allows expatriate workers mobility and amends existing exit protocols. It aims to develop the work environment and complements the Kingdom’s similar initiatives, including the Wage Protection System (WPS), the electronic documentation of all labor contracts, and the "Widy" program aimed to settle labor market disputes.