Not Yet Vaccinated Against COVID-19, Workers In Saudi Arabia Will Have Their Leave Rights Cut

Ilustrasi vaksin COVID-19. (Wikimedia Commons / Ministry of Defense of Peru)

JAKARTA - Saudi Arabian authorities are taking decisive action to increase the number of citizens receiving the COVID-19 vaccine. Most recently, employees working in the public, private and non-profit sectors will have their leave cut if they have not received the COVID-19 vaccine.

The policy, announced by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development on Sunday, clarifies procedures for dealing with unvaccinated employees.

Quoting Arab News Monday, August 2, this step was taken in line with the instructions of the Ministry of Home Affairs, so that institutions or authorities related to the prohibition of employees who have not been vaccinated against COVID-19 from entering work as of August 1. However, they are still required to work from.

While working from home, companies are allowed to cut employee leave if it is deemed unprofitable until August 9. However, the deducted leave will be returned after the employee receives the COVID-19 vaccine.

The Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development will instruct all institutions, to request proof of COVID-19 vaccination from all workers and employees, according to the approval of the Ministry of Health.

For public sector workers, if the relevant leave has expired, the absence due to this rule will be deducted from the regular leave, or will be considered as unpaid leave.

While for private and non-profit employees, employees will be given unpaid leave, if their annual leave has expired. However, if this leave is more than 20 days, the worker is threatened with having his work contract suspended, unless both parties agree otherwise.

However, the ministry said the new regulations do not apply to people who are exempt from taking the vaccine according to the Tawakkalna app.

To note, Saudi Arabia is currently able to provide around 350,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine per day, with a total vaccination rate of around 78 doses per 100 people across the kingdom.