Job Discussion Forums

[sheikher]

SUPPLEMENTAL to the Saudi Gazette�s recent Op-Ed http://www.saudigazette.com.sa/index.cfm?method=home.regcon&contentID=2010102986361&archiveissuedate=29/10/2010 , candidates aspiring to a position via direct or agency placement may be advised of a cultural idiosyncrasy we call, simply, delayed wages.

A familiar textbook among Koran study groups is Muhammed Al-Munajjid�s Muharramaat: Prohibitions Taken Too Lightly (Islam House, 2007).

Excerpt: http://dir.groups.yahoo.com/group/islam4all/message/2363

The Prophet (saas) encouraged speedy payment of wages to people hired for their labor. He said: �Give the hired man his wages before his sweat dries.� 1 One form of oppression or injustice that is common in Muslim societies is the failure to give employees and workers their rights. This takes many forms; a few examples are as follows:

--- Denying an employee�s rights in totality, where the employee has no proof of his rights. He may have lost his dues in this world, but he will not lose them before Allah on the Day of Resurrection. The oppressor who consumed the victim�s money will be brought forth, and his victim will be given from his hasanaat in compensation (i.e. some of the oppressor�s good deeds will be added to his victim�s credit). If the hasanaat are not enough, some of the victim�s sayi�aat (bad deeds) will be added to the oppressor, and then he will be thrown into Hell.

--Not giving the employee his full rights. Allah (swt) says: �Woe to al-Mutaffifeen (those who give less in measure and weight (decrease the rights of others).� .. (Surah al-Mutaffifeen (83) : 1)

One example of this is the action of some people who bring workers from their homelands with a contract to pay a certain wage. Once the people are committed and have started work for him, he goes and changes the contracts, altering them to state a lower wage than the one actually agreed upon. The employees stay because they have no choice and have no proof of their rights; all they can do is complain to Allah. If the employer is a Muslim and the employee is not, this lowering of wages is a way of truing people away from the Straight Path, and he will carry his sin.

-- Making the employee do extra work or put in longer hours without paying him overtime or giving him any more than the basic salary.

-- Some people delay payment of wages and pay up only after much struggle, complaining, chasing and court cases. Their aim may be to make the employee give up his claim to his rightful wages and stop asking; or they may want to invest this money, perhaps by lending it for interest. Meanwhile, the poor employee cannot by his daily bread or send anything home to his needy wife and children for whose sake he left to work overseas. Woe to those oppressors on that painful Day! Abu Hurayrah reported that the Prophet (saas) said: �Allah says: �There are three whom I will oppose on the Day of Resurrection: a man who gives his word, swearing by Me, then breaks it, a man who sells a free man into slavery and keeps the money, and a man who hires another and benefits from his labor, then does not pay him his wages.

1) Reported by Ibn Maajah, 2/817; see also saheeh al-Jaami�, 1493 
2) Reported by al-Bukhaari, see Fath al-Baari, 4/447



THE Ministry of Labor is willing to assist. Their office within the migrant�s region or city should be immediately alerted when the employer fails to respect his own contractual commitments.

http://archive.arabnews.com/?page=13&section=0&article=117681&d=3&m=1&y=2009

Delayed Wages

Local Press, by Abdullah Abou Al-Samh, 31 December 2008

Delaying the payment of foreign workers is totally against Islam. The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: �Give the worker his wage before his sweat dries.� This came as an order for people to pay their workers their financial rights as soon as they are due.

Timely payment of laborers is a legal duty across the world. However, it is regrettable that some private companies and establishments in our country often delay paying salaries for months, forcing laborers to either stop work or complain to the labor offices. Our newspapers are replete with such stories.

Thankfully, human rights organizations intervene to help workers obtain their rights at least in some cases.

Companies and establishments that delay paying workers come up with lame excuses, claiming that they often do not receive payments from parties that they have contracted with on schedule. This may be true, but is that the fault of employees? Under these circumstances, some foreign laborers resort to begging or take up odd jobs to earn a living. Some of them may even resort to criminal activities to support themselves.

At last the Ministry of Labor has taken action by issuing a decision to punish establishments that delay paying their workers for two consecutive months by preventing them from recruiting from abroad for a year. If the delay exceeds three months, then the foreign workers will also have the right to transfer their sponsorship without the consent of their original employers, who will also be forced to settle all payments plus the cost of transferring work papers.

The Ministry of Labor has established a special department to preserve the rights of foreign workers and ensure justice for them. This will become fruitful only if it is implemented seriously while maneuvering through the difficulties of routine and red tape.



AMONG all migrant workers in Saudi Arabia, it is the Filipinos who have organized themselves into various social and employment support groups, one of which is a charity which administrates a �taxed� portion of salary deductions. These funds are used to assist compatriots suffering job losses due to, for example, car accidents. Other issues below.

http://www.saudigazette.com.sa/index.cfm?method=home.regcon&contentID=2010091983420&archiveissuedate=19/09/2010

Not receiving their salaries is the number one problem faced by Filipino workers here in the Kingdom, according to a Philippine Embassy labor official.

�Unpaid salary is the major problem encountered by overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in this country; in Eastern Province alone, 20 percent of all the labor cases handled by the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) last year were related to unpaid salaries,� said Philippine Labor Attach� David Des T. Dicang, addressing recently a forum of Filipino community leaders.

In 2009, POLO operation in the Eastern Province handled 4,560 various labor-related cases confronting Filipino workers. Of these cases, 916 were related to unpaid salaries, Dicang said.

�This problem of unpaid salary, or delayed salary, has far-reaching effect to our workers and on their families back home because it distresses both the workers and their immediate relatives,� the labor official said.

He said the problem of unpaid salary greatly affects the performance of the concerned workers and often results in workers abandoning their jobs. �The Philippine labor office in the Kingdom often traces work abandonment due to unpaid wages,� he pointed out.

Other problems commonly faced by Filipino workers are work contract violations (such as contract substitution), maltreatment, poor working and living condition, health and medical problem, immigration and document-related problem, and settlement of end-of-service benefits.

Non-labor related cases are also increasing, according to Dicang. In his report to the community, Dicang revealed that sexual harassment, sexual abuse, and rape cases topped the non-related cases handled by the POLO. In the Eastern Province, the POLO operation in the region handled 67 such cases in 2009.

According to Dicang, the resolution of unpaid salary cases faced many hurdles especially if the companies or the establishments faced bankruptcy or insolvency. �The process of getting the workers paid is often tedious and long; there are cases when workers would just prefer to be repatriated back home, or seek release from the employer just to end their suffering,� Dicang explained.

In 2009, the amount of money reinstituted to OFW claimants of unpaid salaries in the Eastern Province amounted to SR1,150 million (about $306,680). This amount represented a small percentage of the actual money due to claimants of unpaid salaries, Dicang said. � SG



IT happens to the best of us!

A direct-hire English language instructor from King Faisal University in Al-Hasa is still awaiting final salary and benefits three months after contract�s end.

This individual and two teenaged children survive thanks to a line of credit from a neighborhood grocery store.

The instructor, formerly at a university in UAE, accepted KFU�s offer of employment (SR18,000/month) while at the tail end of a UAE contract 15 months ago. Ramadan 2009 interfered with expedient Saudi visa issuance.

Obligated by UAE visa regulations to exit, the family decided to wait for the Saudi visa in Yemen. KFU assured a further delay not exceeding one month, guaranteed inshallah.

That one-month time frame stretched out to five months residency in budget accommodations in Sanaa, at personal expense. On occasion explosions were heard within the district.

Upon eventual arrival to KFU, the instuctor was confronted with KFU�s bait-and-switch routine: a formal contact indicating salary of SR15,000. Under the circumstances, the only option was to sign. After a few months, salary was again adjusted: SR13,500.

The accommodation KFU promised was not ready. It never became ready. A nearby hotel provided adequate digs for the family for the following eight months. Accommodation allowance in lieu KFU�s promised apartment failed to cover costs; the hotel manager kept raising rates.

Yet, teaching duties were fulfilled, hours shifted now and then according to administration�s whim. At the end of semester 2, administration decided to conduct summer session classes exclusively for kiddies. Your basic summer vacation glorified daycare.

Administration dug deep for curriculum and resources. This comprised six pairs of kiddie scissors. A scramble for appropriate materials ensued, resulting in SR6000 out-of-pocket expenses.

The double-MA PhD-candidate instructor receives constant �wait-another-week� directives for final salary, benefits, tickets. KFU administration refuses to release filed originals of credentials that would surely come in handy for seeking further employment either in KSA or overseas.

Informal offers from other universities in Saudi Arabia have been received. The instructor cannot make firm commitments without possession of entire credentials.

The family now resides in budget accommodation at personal expense.



INFAMOUS Al Shabaka Training Establishment is an agency contractually associated with King Faisal University in Al-Hasa. My first salary two years ago was delayed by two weeks due to my �failure� to advise them that, really, that salary advance I received upon arrival should be deducted on this first payday. Two weeks to make a simple bookkeeping adjustment!

Salaries of other colleagues were delayed simply because the accountant did not have the facility to issue salaries via telegraphic transfer to overseas banks. This despite admin's earlier assurance that this would be done. Some colleagues, well educated and seasoned EFLers possessing international perspective, �resigned� by the end of their 3rd month.

Welcome to Al Shabaka, premier recruitment agent for King Faisal University!

[Never Ceased To Be Amazed]

Yer posts are always direct...to the point...and reveal the duplicity that exists here. Bravo!!!

NCTBA

[floydrules]

There's a (little) good, bad and ugly about every university in the magic kingdom. I can understand what the family might be going through right now but internal news is that everyone is facing trouble with the salary part, some are delayed, some are underpaid and some get lucky at KFU, the best thing to do (if still in trouble)would be to contact the Admin head office or speak to the President or the VP of the university, they will surely get you out of this (this comes from a personal exp).