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Legal consultation: by Abdelaal A Khalil Thursday, 30 June 2011 00:38
Question : A labourer is complaining that the company where he is working is deducting two days to five days of the workers’ salaries when they make simple errors. He asks if this deduction is legal and about the restrictions regulating the penalties against workers and how to complain against such penalties?
Labour Law No. 14/2004, concerning the employer’s disciplinary authority, states that the employer who employs ten workers or more shall have a penalties regulation including violations and punitive procedures against perpetrators as well as conditions and terms thereof. In order to legalize the penalties regulation and its amendments, it shall be approved by the Manager within one month of its submission to the management. If the such period elapses without any objection, the regulation is considered as approved and the employer shall show the regulation at the work site to be viewed by the employees. The regulation shall be considered effective only after fifteen days of announcement.
The disciplinary penalties permitted to be applied against employees as follows:
Notice: it is executed with a written letter directed to the employee notifying the committed violations with a warning of more powerful penalty in case of repetition.
Deduction of maximum five days of the employee’s salary for one violation. Cessation of work with deduction of no more than five days salary for one violation.
Suspending the employee without salary or reduced salary until the charge is decided. If the employee is innocent or the charge is being reserved, the cessation is considered as it was not and the employee’s accruals for the time of cessation shall be paid.
Delaying the annual bonus for no more than six months or depriving the employee of it in the companies adopting bonus system.
Delaying the promotion for maximum one year in the companies adopting such system.
Dismissal with preserving the right of end of service gratuity.
Dismissal with depriving the employee of end of service gratuity.
Laws shall be complied with when imposing penalties against employees, provided that the deductions of their salary shall not exceed five days monthly. The employer shall record the penalties imposed against employees including the employee’s name and amount of deduction along with cause of penalty and its date with condition that such record shall be subject to the work inspection authority. Imposing penalties against violators shall be complied with the following:
Penalty should be imposed against the employee only after notifying the employee with the charge and interrogating them in writing. Investigation may be orally in simple violations for which the penalty regulation stipulates notice or deduction of one day salary, provided that the above should be written in a minute saved in the employee’s file.
One penalty should be applied on the employee for one violation.
No penalty should be imposed for an act not mentioned in the penalties regulation.
Question: A person is receiving via his e-mail many messages from unknown people requesting him to provide them with his personal data and bank account number to transfer amounts of money to his banking account against a percentage of the amount. He is asking if there is any legal liability resulting from cooperation with them.
Law No 4/2004 concerning countering money laundering and terrorism financing states that any one committing or starting to commit any crimes of money laundering shall be penalised with prison for maximum seven years and a fine up to 2 million riyals. The penalty shall be duplicated if the perpetrator commits the crime with partnership of any person or more or through an organised criminal group or terrorist organisation. The crime perpetrator may be penalized with preventing them from continuation of the practicing any work, profession or action contributed to provide the opportunity for commitment of any money laundering crimes as per Anti Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing Law No. 4 of 2010.
These transactions are suspect and the source of such money is unknown. Therefore, the following act shall be legally considered as money laundering:
Transfer of money by any person who knows or suspects that such money is accrued by crime for the purpose of hiding or concealing the illegitimate source of these money or to help any person involved in committing a financial crime to get rid of legal outcomes of their acts.
Hiding or concealing the genuine nature, source or place of money or disposing of, moving or processing of it or rights related to by any person who knows, should know or suspect that such money is coming from a crime.
Possessing, acquisition or using money by any person who knows, should know, or suspect that such money is out of crime.
Knowing that the law states that there is a controlling body overseeing the financial institutions, non-financial businesses and professions and non-profitable organisations to make sure of their commitment to anti-money laundering and terrorism financing requirements in addition to the close cooperation among the internal State’s authorities to seize any of the abovementioned actions and international cooperation in order to eliminate such crimes. Therefore, we recommends to delete such email messages once you receive and not to contract with the senders.