Saudi Arabia amends controls over financial support for its employees in the private sector

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The Human Resources Development Fund (Hadaf) revealed new amendments to the controls of the Supporting the Employment of Saudis in the Private Sector program, which included granting establishments and companies that employ Saudis more financial support to support them in paying the wages of those employees.

The new amendments to support controls included reducing the minimum wage for an employee eligible for support from 4,000 riyals to 3,200 riyals, which will allow more Saudi employees to benefit from the program, and push the companies that employ them to stick to them.

The amendments also included calculating an additional 10% support for the affected activities, as well as calculating an additional 10% support for several other targeted professions that were not identified, in addition to the inclusion of employees who were hired from 1 July 2019 in the program.

According to a statement by the fund published by the official Saudi Press Agency, the disbursement of support will begin to those included in the program from the date they are registered in the program.

The Employment Support program supports the wages of Saudi men and women in all jobs and professions in all private sector establishments, at a rate ranging from 30% to 50% of the employee’s monthly wage for a period of two years, provided that the subsidized employee’s salary does not exceed 15,000 riyals.

Establishments also receive an additional 10% support when hiring females, and persons with disabilities, and upon employment in all cities except for Riyadh, Jeddah, Dammam and Khobar, and in small, micro and medium enterprises, provided that the maximum support does not exceed 50% of the employee's monthly wage, or three Thousands of riyals, whichever is less.

Saudi Arabia has made several amendments to the program since its launch last year, especially after the emergence of the new Corona virus, and the private sector facilities were affected by long-term closures, with the aim of providing more monetary support to the sector and urging companies to adhere to Saudi employees