What is Ajeer?

What is Ajeer?

So what is Ajeer? It is a labor market platform developed by the Saudi Arabian government to regulate the contractual relationship between employees and employers. It is designed to address the challenges of the labor market, particularly the need for temporary employment solutions, and to enhance the flexibility of the labor market while ensuring the protection of workers’ rights. The Ajeer system plays a critical role in the Kingdom’s broader economic reforms and Vision 2030 initiatives by promoting a more dynamic and efficient labor market. For more information about our company, visit our About Us page.

Origins and Objectives

The Ajeer system was introduced by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development (MHRSD) to streamline temporary employment and facilitate labor mobility. The platform was conceived to tackle several key issues:

1. Regulation of Temporary Work: Ajeer provides a formal framework for temporary employment, ensuring that temporary workers have legal protection and that their rights are safeguarded.

2. Labor Market Flexibility: By enabling employers to hire temporary workers more easily, Ajeer enhances labor market flexibility, allowing businesses to adjust their workforce according to their needs without long-term commitments.

3. Reduction of Informal Employment: The system aims to reduce the prevalence of informal and undocumented work arrangements, which can lead to exploitation and legal ambiguities.

4. Support for Saudi Nationals: Ajeer also supports the Saudization initiative by providing more employment opportunities for Saudi nationals, thereby reducing unemployment and underemployment among locals.

Key Features of Ajeer

Ajeer is characterized by several features designed to facilitate temporary employment while ensuring compliance with Saudi labor laws:

1. Electronic Platform: Ajeer operates as an online platform where employers and employees can register, post job offers, and manage contracts. This digital approach simplifies the hiring process and improves transparency.

2. Temporary Work Permits: The system issues temporary work permits that allow employees to work for a specific employer for a defined period. These permits are essential for regulating and legalizing temporary employment.

3. Contractual Clarity: Ajeer ensures that all employment contracts are clear and legally binding. This helps in setting the terms and conditions of employment, including wages, duration, and job responsibilities.

4. Compliance and Monitoring: The platform is integrated with the MHRSD’s regulatory framework to ensure that all parties comply with labor laws. It also helps in monitoring and addressing any violations promptly.

How Ajeer Works

Now that we have answered the question ‘What is Ajeer’, how does it work? The functioning involves several steps, ensuring a smooth and regulated process for temporary employment:

1. Registration: Both employers and employees must register on the Ajeer platform. Employers provide details about their business and the nature of the temporary positions available, while employees create profiles highlighting their skills and experience.

2. Job Posting and Matching: Employers post job offers on the platform, specifying the required qualifications and job details. Employees can search for these job postings and apply for positions that match their skills.

3. Contract Creation: Once an employer selects a candidate, the terms of employment are formalized through an electronic contract on the Ajeer platform. This contract outlines the job role, duration, salary, and other essential terms.

4. Issuance of Work Permit: After the contract is agreed upon, Ajeer issues a temporary work permit to the employee. This permit is crucial as it legalizes the employee’s work status for the duration specified in the contract.

5. Monitoring and Compliance: Throughout the employment period, Ajeer facilitates monitoring to ensure compliance with the contract terms and labor regulations. Any disputes or issues can be addressed through the platform’s support services.

Benefits of Ajeer

Ajeer offers several benefits for employers, employees, and the broader Saudi economy:

1. For Employers:

• Flexibility: Employers can adjust their workforce size according to their needs, especially during peak business periods or for short-term projects.
• Reduced Administrative Burden: The digital platform simplifies the hiring process, reducing the administrative burden associated with traditional hiring methods.
• Legal Compliance: Ajeer ensures that all temporary hires comply with Saudi labor laws, reducing the risk of legal issues.

2. For Employees:

• Job Opportunities: Ajeer provides more job opportunities, particularly for those seeking temporary or part-time work.
• Legal Protection: Temporary workers receive the same legal protections as permanent employees, including rights related to wages, working conditions, and dispute resolution.
• Professional Development: Temporary roles can offer valuable work experience and skill development, enhancing employability for future opportunities.

3. For the Economy:

• Labor Market Efficiency: By facilitating temporary employment, Ajeer helps to allocate labor resources more efficiently across different sectors.
• Support for Saudization: The platform helps in achieving Saudization targets by providing more employment opportunities for Saudi nationals.
• Reduction of Informal Employment: Ajeer reduces the incidence of informal work arrangements, contributing to a more regulated and transparent labor market.

Challenges and Future Directions

While Ajeer has made significant strides in improving the labor market, there are challenges and areas for further development:

1. Awareness and Adoption: Increasing awareness and encouraging adoption among both employers and employees is crucial. Many businesses, particularly smaller ones, may not yet fully understand the benefits and functionalities of the platform.

2. Technological Enhancements: Continual improvements to the platform’s technology, including user experience and integration with other governmental systems, can enhance its efficiency and effectiveness.

3. Policy Support: Ongoing support from policymakers to address any regulatory gaps and ensure that Ajeer remains aligned with broader economic goals is essential.

4. Addressing Labor Market Gaps: Ajeer can play a role in addressing specific labor market gaps, such as seasonal employment needs or skills shortages in certain sectors.

Service contract

It is a service designed to manage contractual relationships on projects that include direct contracts and subcontracts which require employees to work on a client’s site or workforce of a party to work with another entity.

In authorized economic activities, enterprises may offer their services or request the services of other enterprises. The entities in the red and yellow Nitaqat range cannot benefit from this as a beneficiary or as a service receivers.

At the moment Ajeer covers six different business sectors under the Ajeer service contract. These six sectors are eligible for issuing an Ajeer for their employees to work for clients. However, the receiving party does not need to fall into these sectors.

1. Construction

2. Maintenance and operation contracting

3. Cleaning and maintenance contracts

4. Consulting services and business

5. Institutes

6. Colleges

Temporary work service – employment services

This is a service which allows entities to borrow surplus employees from another entity. In all economic activities, enterprises can offer their surplus labor through advertising. Conditions for secondment of labor are:

• The maximum limit for each entity may borrow or offer only 20% of the total foreign labor.
• To support small businesses (less than five employees). They are exempt from the utilization rate, but they are not allowed to loan their services to another entity.
• The worker shall not be seconded in the first 12 months from the date of his entry into the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
• The maximum period of secondment of a worker’s services is 12 months every two years (24 months) from the date of issuing the first notice.
• The Yellow and Red Niteqat companies are allowed to provide service and lend their labor.

Temporary work service – direct contracting service

The service aims to facilitate access to the workforce by enabling individuals wishing to work, to register on the site and publish their CVs for direct contracting. Companies can benefit by contracting job seekers to suit their requirements.

This Ajeer scheme offers this service to cover three main areas:

1. To allow a temporary work permit for dependents.

2. To allow individuals to work during the Hajj season.

3. To issue a temporary work permit during a labor dispute

To allow a temporary work permit for dependents

The dependents holding an Iqama in Saudi Arabia can work in the education sector without transferring their sponsorship. Conditions for temporary work permit service for dependents are:

• The dependent and their sponsor shall have the valid residence
• The age of the dependent should be minimum 18 years old
• The dependent needs to have approval from the Ministry of Education to conduct a teaching profession.

Education facilities that can benefit from this are:

• Foreign schools.
• Boys Schools.
• National Girls Schools.
• Boys and Girls Schools.
• Kindergarten.
• Education Institutes.

Approvals are currently limited to a teacher’s profession only and Ajeer will be valid for one year from the date of issuance.

To allow individuals to work during the Hajj season.

The service is aimed at facilitating and encouraging the participation of Saudis and expatriates in the Kingdom by working in the Hajj season through an electronic job market. It helps bring together the companies working in Hajj services and people wishing to work during Hajj season and documenting contractual relations between them. For more insights into the latest developments, visit our Insights page.

Conditions for companies:

The company shall be one of the institutions of pilgrims inside or one of the civil institutions of the sects authorized by the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah.

Conditions for Individuals (Job Seekers):

All job seekers during the Hajj season are allowed to apply whether they are citizens or expatriates residing in the Kingdom, providing that the following conditions apply:

Saudi Nationals:

• The applicant must be at least 15 years of age.

Expats:

• The resident shall hold current employment.
• The current employer approves.
• Companions and community members are allowed to register without applying the above two conditions if they are not employed at a registered establishment.
• Visitors are not allowed to use the service.
• Domestic workers are not allowed to use the service.
• The validity of the work period during the Hajj season will be a maximum of three months.
• To issue a temporary work permit during a labor dispute.
• This service is designed to facilitate and arbitrate the mechanism of issuing temporary work permits during the period of labor dispute by automating procedures for issuing these permits electronically through the Ajeer portal.

Terms of service:

The worker must have a valid labor dispute in one of the following areas:

• The Central Authority for the Settlement of Labor Disputes.
• Supreme Commission for the Settlement of Labor Disputes.

The case should be under the following categories:

• Main category: collective issue or individual case.
• Subcategories: All subcategories, except the following categories:
• Household Employment Issues.
• Issues of violations of the labor law.
• Death issues.
• Final exit issues.
• The status of the case must be ‘vaild’ and no final judgment rendered.
• The entities in the yellow and red Nitaqat range are not allowed to benefit from the service.
• The rules and regulations of the system must be observed in accordance with the laws of the labor regulation.