100200 labor cases lodged with Saudi courts in 2023

Saudi Gazette report

RIYADH — The total number of labor cases received by courts and labor circuits across the Kingdom reached around 100200 since the beginning of 2023, at a rate of approximately 426 cases per day.

About 30,530 cases were lodged with the courts and circuits in the Riyadh region and these made up 30.5 percent of the total cases. The Riyadh region is followed by the court circuits of the Makkah region, with 26,677 cases.

The Eastern Province came third with 13,111 cases, followed by the Asir region with 5,723 cases, Madinah (5,335), and Qassim region (4,656). The cases received by the labor circuits in Hail stood at 4,656 cases, while the number of cases in the Tabuk region accounted for 2,768, Jazan (2,487), Al-Jouf (1,918), Najran (1,072), and the Northern Border Region (956) while the courts in the Al-Baha region recorded the lowest number of 768 cases.

The issues of the verdicts pronounced by the courts include claims for delayed wages and requests for allowances, others related to compensation and bonuses, and requests for an experience certificate, in addition to disputes related to the employer imposing disciplinary penalties on the worker or related to requesting exemption from disciplinary actions, Al-Eqtisadiah newspaper reported.

The Labor court regulations stipulated specific time periods for accepting lawsuits claiming rights of workers, including those related to lawsuits pertaining to the Labor Law or domestic workers, which are subject to specific periods for amicable settlement of disputes before referring them to courts. This is in addition to complaints against the General Organization for Social Insurance (GOSI) regarding subscription, registration, and compensation.

The duration of period for the amicable settlement procedures before filing lawsuits to the labor courts, subject to the Labor Law, is 21 days. If the amicable settlement procedures are not completed within that period, the dispute shall be referred to the labor courts electronically through the portal of the Ministry of Labor and Social Development.