The General Directorate of Passports (Jawazat) informed that any employer, who allows his expatriate worker to take up jobs for their own personal advantage or for a monetary consideration, shall be punished with a maximum imprisonment of three months and penalty upto SR 50,000.
The employer, who commits the violation shall be penalised as follows –
| Violation | Imprisonment | Penalty | Ban from recruitment |
| First | 1 Month | SR 5,000 | One Year |
| Second | 2 Months | SR 20,000 | Two Years |
| Third | 3 Months | SR 50,000 | Three Years |
The penalty mentioned above in all three cases will be multiplied with the number of workers whom the employer allowed to engaged in private jobs in violation of the regulations of the Labor Law.
The expat employee, who commits the violation shall be penalised as follows –
| Imprisonment | Penalty | Others |
| Upto 6 Months | SR 50,000 | Deportation after jail term and payment of penalty |
The expatriate, who works for anyone other than his original employer or works for his own personal benefit, would be deported to his country.
The employer, who employs another expatriate who is not originally in his employment shall be penalised as follows –
| Employer | Expat | Saudi Citizen |
| First Violation | Penalty of SR5,000 or jail term for a month or both in addition to revocation of his residency permit (iqama) and deportation from the Kingdom. | Penalty of SR 5,000 |
| Second Violation | – | Penalty of SR 10,000 or imprisonment for a month or of both. |
| Third Violation | – | Penalty of SR 20,000 or imprisonment for three months or of both. |
It is really a wake up call and a welcoming move by the authorities to ensure there are no labour law violation and unauthorised persons handling jobs. This can ensure quality and trust in the employment market. All employers, especially foreign companies should ensure that they are not committing this violation on their own and also ensure their employees are not doing any private jobs for their own benefit other than under their original employment.
