By ARAB NEWS
Published: Jun 13, 2011 23:42 Updated: Jun 13, 2011 23:42

JEDDAH: The Labor Ministry has fixed the minimum Saudization level at 49 percent for banks that employ 500 or more people as part of the second phase of the Nitaqat program that will start on Sept. 10. Under Saudization rules, different sectors have different quotas.

In the ministry statement issued Saturday, it was also announced that the media sector must have a 19-percent Saudization quota — meaning 19 out of 100 employees must be Saudis. Commercial establishments, insurance companies and public schools will have the same 19-percent quota, according to Al-Madinah newspaper.

Some job categories do not have quotas, while others are reserved exclusively for Saudis.

As reported earlier, under the new Nitaqat system, companies are to be labeled “green,” “yellow” or “red” depending on the level of Saudi workers in them. The companies in the “yellow” category would be given a grace period of nine months and those in the “red” category six months to improve their status by hiring more Saudis before facing punitive measures.

While “yellow” companies will not be able to extend their foreign employees’ work visas beyond six years — which is retroactively implemented, meaning the years a worker has already put in is counted — “red” companies will not be able to renew their foreign workers’ visas.

“Green” companies will be entitled to a number of benefits, such as expedited services for foreign workers’ visas and the ability to change the job categories of foreign workers into job categories reserved for Saudis, except for human resources managers, liaison officers, cashiers, receptionists or security guards. read more