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Saturday 18 April 2009 (22 Rabi` al-Thani 1430)
 

Law and You by Mohammed Jaber Nader

 
 

A.S.D. If someone remains absent from his job for about a month without informing the company. Can his company terminate his service on the basis of his absence? Is this legal? My friend went to his home country on vacation for 23 days. There, he prolonged his stay without informing the company and when he returned, the company had already terminated his service. Please advise.

A company has the right to sack its employee if he does not come to work for 10 consecutive days or 20 days in one year without informing the company. However, the termination must only take place after the employee has been asked about the reasons for the absence. When your friend returned, he was legally an employee of the company. If he has failed to show a valid reason for his absence, his service may stand terminated. Nevertheless, he will get all his rights and benefits according to the law, after the salary for the days he remained absent is deducted.


 

P. O. I am a Pakistani national working in a contracting company with a two-year contract. I recently completed 13 months of service. Now I have a good offer from another company that is also in Saudi Arabia. I want to know about the Saudi law for obtaining a no-objection-certificate (NOC). Is the NOC compulsory for joining another company in the Kingdom?

Being in the middle of your specified-period contract, you have to get the consent of your employer before you quit. If you resign without his consent you might have to go to your country and pay compensation for breaching the contract. You may also have to compensate him for air fare for your replacement and some other expenses that your employer incurred on you. The labor law says nothing about NOC. But, as per internal regulations, it is required. If you leave in this way, you will have to stay one year before returning to this country to work for another employer. If you return for work again, it will be a fresh start.


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