Saudi Arabia launches digital platform to ensure wage protection, human rights of expat workers

Saudi Arabia introduces digital platform Musaned to ensure secure working conditions for foreign workers, including Indians, under Vision 2030.

With a series of digitally enforceable measures and platforms, Saudi Arabia is getting ready to ensure a more secure working condition for foreign workers, including those from India.

A group of officials from the Human Resources and Social Development Ministry here on Thursday presented the Saudi plans for meeting the Vision 2030 of the Saudi government and said the Kingdom’s plans regarding the expat workers would secure workers’ rights and cut down on illegal immigration.

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The new labour rules in Saudi Arabia — under a digital platform called Musaned — will benefit at least 10 African countries like Sudan, Ethiopia, Uganda, Egypt and Kenya as well as nine Asian countries such as India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Vietnam, Philippines and Sri Lanka.

Under the Musaned platform, foreign workers in the domestic (household) work sector can check the existing employment contracts and follow updates in a dedicated Musaned labour app. This system allows foreign embassies to have “view access” on the system on “all the details related to their citizens working in Saudi (employer name, location, endorsed contract.”). Allowing the foreign missions a “view access” is aimed at resolving labour disputes more efficiently.

The Musaned platform can be linked with contract insurance and health benefits. The officials said the Musaned platform would protect human rights and provide “stable working environment” for both the employee as well as the employers. The most important feature of the Musaned platform, according to the officials, is that it provides a “wage protection system” by following the employers’ obligations to pay the monthly wages for the workers. The digital platform can track financial transactions between the employers and the foreign workers, thereby ensuring the employers will fulfil the contractual obligations towards the foreign workers.

Bangladesh, India and Pakistan provide the largest number of workers who serve in the domestic and private labour sectors of Saudi Arabia. With 1.4 million workers, Indians hold the second position in the Saudi labour market. The first position is held by Bangladesh that currently supplies around 2.7 million workers to the Saudi labour market. According to the latest data supplied by the Saudi Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development, Pakistan has supplied around 2.1 million workers for the domestic households and private sectors. Labour force from Nepal, Indonesia, Sudan, Philippines, Yemen, Egypt and Uganda are some of the other countries whose labour forces in the Saudi market will also benefit from the newly introduced platforms and schemes.