Saudi warns companies to correct status or face penalties

Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Labour and Social Development has given companies four weeks to correct their activities to be inline with their licence.

Ministry spokesperson Khaled Abaalkhil said it was keen to protect the business sector from infringing establishments with the hope of achieving fair competition.

Companies that need to correct their activities within the time period will be alerted via text messages and other channels.

Those that believe they are operating within their registered activity area can also submit their objections online.

The ministry said it would stop electronic services access for enterprises that are not committed to correcting their activities, suggesting they would be unable to renew work visas or apply for visas for new staff.

Field inspections are planned to control violations after the four-week grace period.

The kingdom has recently been cracking down on violations by companies including in the area of employing Saudi staff.

Operations were reportedly halted at up to a million firms over the summer for breaching Saudisation requirements.

Read: Saudi halts operations of one million firms for breaching Saudisation laws