Saudi- Schools violating wage program to be penalized

(MENAFN- Arab News) The Labor Ministry has urged owners of private schools to start applying the wage protection program that becomes mandatory next month. An official at the ministry said violating schools would be fined. "All businesses will be forced to implement the system, otherwise sanctions that may amount to closing the facility will be imposed on them," the official said. "Penalties and fines will depend on delays in uploading wages' profile onto the ministry' website." There are 3,375 private schools in the Kingdom where more than 600,000 students have been enrolled. The number of teachers at these schools are estimated at 30,000. Standards for compliance of employers include filing all data related to wages in terms of the salary amount and maturity date within the time frame specified and on a regular basis. The program on the ministry's website will monitor the data uploaded by businesses, and then compare the data with the information registered with the ministry to check their compliance with the system. An employer can delay uploading data for up to three months, but not to violate the agreed time and salary. The program will minimize labor problems, provide a healthy work environment and prove salary payments by the entity to limit complaints as much as possible.