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SAUDI ARABIA: Employment Contract Authentication Requirement Launched
August 27, 2019
The Ministry of Labor has introduced a contracts authentication service requiring employers to upload all their employee contracts to a portal and then have the employees verify them.
Deadlines
The requirement will be applied to companies in phases depending on their number of employees (see below), and is mandatory.
Employees whose contracts are not registered by the deadline are permitted to transfer employer without approval.
- Companies with 3000+ employees can begin their contract registration now, and must have completed 20% by Q3 2019, 50% by Q4 2019 and 100% by Q1 2020.
- Companies with 500-2999 employees can begin their contract registration on 29 October 2019, and must have completed 20% by Q4 2019, 50% by Q1 2020 and 100% by Q2 2020.
- Companies with 50-499 employees can begin their contract registration on 26 January 2020, and must have completed 20% by Q1 2020, 50% by Q2 2020 and 100% by Q3 2020.
- Companies with 1-49 employees can begin their contract registration on 23 April 2020, and must have completed 20% by Q2 2020, 50% by Q3 2020 and 100% by Q4 2020.
How Does it Work?
Companies will access the service through their General Organization for Social Insurance (GOSI) electronic portal.
Once the employee receives the message containing the contract link, they will have seven days to accept or reject the contract details. If the employee does not respond within seven days, the system will automatically authenticate the contract.
Our Advice
Employers who may be affected are encouraged to contact a Newland Chase immigration specialist for case-specific advice.
For general advice and information on immigration and business travel to Saudi Arabia, please contact us.
