Updated rules of WMS are in bid to monitor payroll release for male and female workers in private sector: MLSD

The Ministry of Labor and Social Development (MLSD) said on Tuesday the first phase to update the Wage Management System’s rules monitors payroll process for male and female workers working in the private sector (Saudi nationals and expats) and assess employers’ keenness to pay wages on time and with the agreed amount, as well as reducing labor disputes between the establishments and the workers. Previously, the ministry launched the first phase of the newly-updated system in order to reflect compliance rate of establishments and send alerts to violators as the uploaded wage files are currently subject to these new rules, which aims to provide a safe and suitable work environment in the private sector by increasing transparency and protecting the rights of involved parties. The updated rules of the system allow establishments through its website to check if their wage records are approved and review the month and type of violation occurred, in addition to showing file status for the current month/last six months. The MLSD clarified the wage files that are changed after receiving them from the bank get rejected by the newly-updated system, as well as those that have no unified number of establishment or invalid one along with rejecting those paid in other currencies rather than Saudi Riyals. Meanwhile, the ministry provides a user guide on the WMS’s website that can be accessed through its portal (https://www.mol.gov.sa), stressing whoever fails to follow the specifications of the system, their submitted wage files will be completely rejected. Additionally, the files get rejected if the total payments are not equal to the basic salary, housing allowance, other benefits and deductions, as well as if payment details or total payroll are found negative or zero, or else worker’s national IDs or Iqama are invalid. The ministry emphasized its keenness to protect rights of involved parties and penalize those who fail to correctly upload the wage files, pointing out compliance rate of establishment may be affected due to violations committed and employer’s failure to provide a reasonable explanation to the labor inspector. The establishment is also penalized if it pays worker’s wage more than once in the same month as the WMS excludes the repeated files for the same worker, in addition to establishment’s failure to pay the worker on time. It is penalized if it deduces more than 50 percent of worker’s basic salary that is registered under GOSI, or if the worker’s basic salary is not equal to what is registered under GOSI. The ministry highlighted that the new changes of the WMS assess employer’s compliance through comparing the number of workers whose wages are forwarded to the system with the total number of workers in the establishment registered under GOSI. The expat worker is not counted as part of the compliance rate of the establishment within 90 days from the date of his/her arrival to the Kingdom, whereas the Saudi worker is counted when s/he shows up to work for a period of one month. According to the new WMS rules, the ministry stops services to establishments failing to comply with the system and upload the wage files on time after being warned.