Saudi: Companies given four more months to implement wage protection system

April 20, 2014

Riyadh, Apr 20: Companies with at least 1,000 workers are being given four more months to implement a wage protection system that was introduced by the Labor Ministry last year in a bid to ensure employees’ rights.

The ministry’s decision to postpone the implementation of the fourth phase of the protection bill for companies with more than 500 workers, originally scheduled for July 1, to Nov. 1 was taken after the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA) demanded that pressure be eased on the Kingdom’s banks, which have been tasked with salary payment under the new system.

The implementation of the fourth phase, however, will coincide with the payment of Hafiz unemployment benefits to jobless youth, putting more pressure on banks.

“The ministry made the decision following detailed studies and discussions with the SAMA,” Abdullah Abu Thnain, undersecretary for inspections and work environment development, told the SPA.

Companies employing 500 workers on average far outnumber establishments in other categories, he said.

The wage protection system involves the creation of a database containing updates on wage payment in the private sector. Information includes the amount and date the salary was paid. The new system also stipulates that salary payment should be made solely through banks.

Private companies in the Kingdom were categorized according to the number of workers they employ.

The first phase involved companies with more than 3,000 workers. A total of 119 companies fulfilled conditions out of 184 companies in that category, while 48 companies pledged to submit their updated data soon after the deadline and 17 had services halted by the ministry for failure to comply with the new system.

The second phase, which was implemented on companies with more than 2,000 workers, saw 81 companies fulfill the ministry’s demands and 13 penalized for failure to comply, while 17 companies had services resumed after complying past the deadline.

“Only 445 private schools out of a total of 1,183 schools fulfilled the criteria,” he said. “Services to 713 have been suspended, while 25 schools had services resumed after updating their information.”

Companies that fail to comply with the regulations within two months of the deadline have their services suspended. Renewal of work permits, however, is not affected by these suspensions.

Employees working with companies that fail to comply three months past the deadline can transfer to other companies without the permission of their sponsors.

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UN condemns Israeli regime’s ‘organized torture’ against Palestinians

News Network

November 30,2025

The United Nations Committee against Torture (CAT) has condemned the Israeli regime for enforcing a policy of “organized torture” against Palestinians.

In a report published on Friday, CAT stated that the occupying regime enforces a deliberate policy of “organized and widespread torture and ill-treatment” against Palestinian abductees, particularly since October 7, 2023, when Israel launched its genocidal war on Gaza.

The committee expressed “deep concern over repeated severe beatings, dog attacks, electrocution, water-boarding, use of prolonged stress positions [and] sexual violence” inflicted on Palestinians.

Palestinian prisoners were degraded by “being made to act like animals or being urinated on,” systematically denied medical care, and subjected to excessive restraints, “in some cases resulting in amputation,” the report added.

CAT also condemned the routine application of “unlawful combatants law” to justify the prolonged detention without trial of thousands of Palestinian men, women, and children.

More than 10,000 Palestinians, including women and children, are currently held in Israeli prisons, according to Palestinian and international human rights groups, with 3,474 Palestinians in “administrative detention,” meaning they are imprisoned without trial for indefinite periods.

The report highlighted the “high proportion of children who are currently detained without charge or on remand,” noting that while Israel sets the age of criminal responsibility at 12, even younger children have been abducted.

Children designated as security prisoners face severe restrictions on family contact, may be subjected to solitary confinement, and are denied access to education, in clear violation of international law.

The committee further suggested that Israel’s policies across the Occupied Territories constitute collective torture against the Palestinian population.

“A range of policies adopted by Israel in the course of its continued unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory amounts to cruel, inhuman or degrading living conditions for the Palestinian population,” the report said.

On Thursday, the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas condemned the systematic killing and torture of Palestinian abductees in Israeli prisons, urging international action to halt these abuses.

Citing human rights data, Hamas stated that 94 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli prisons since the start of Tel Aviv’s genocidal war on Gaza.

“This reflects an organized criminal approach that has turned these prisons into direct killing grounds to eliminate our people,” the resistance movement said.

Hamas called on the international community, the UN, and human rights organizations to immediately pressure Israel to end crimes against prisoners and uphold their rights as guaranteed by all international conventions and norms.

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