Saudi Arabia to compensate contracting firms for increase in expatriate labor fees

Ministry of Finance headquarters

The Ministry of Finance approved to compensate contracting facilities dealing with the state for the rise in expatriate labor fees.

The compensation will be an amount equal to or more than the fees each facility pays for its expatriate workers, who are equal to or exceed the number of Saudis.

According to the ministry circular to the Federation of Saudi Chambers, the contracted facilities can submit their applications through the “Etimad” platform, provided that the government entity that owns the project certifies the data validity provided by the applicant.

The ministry indicated that the government entity is fully responsible for reviewing applications and documents provided by the contracting facility.

The Ministry of Finance completed the electronic portal upgrade to compensate facilities contracting with the state for the hike in labor fees for all contracts concluded with contractors in coordination with the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development (HRSD).

The ministry will feed the portal with contractors’ employment data based on the actual payments with the HRSD ministry.

Accordingly, a facility cannot be compensated for more than what it paid for higher expat fees in the fiscal year.

The statement indicated that the e-portal was upgraded as the ministry noticed that low compensation applications were submitted via the platform.

Etimad platform launched a compensation service for labor fees, as entities contracting with the state can be compensated for the rise in expatriate labor fees.