New policies introduced for employee registration and localized hospitality services in Saudi

New rules and guidelines for employee registration and activity localization in authorized tourism establishments in Saudi Arabia have been approved by Minister of Tourism Ahmed Al-Khateeb.

Reinforcing the strongly ingrained principles of Saudi hospitality, the new regulations mandate that all tourism hospitality establishments have a Saudi receptionist on duty during business hours. Contractual, seconded, and seasonal employee agreements must be recorded on the Ajeer platform or other authorized platforms. Employees of establishments with several licensed branches must be specifically registered against the facility file associated with each tourism license.

Positions subject to Saudization decisions cannot be outsourced or assigned to organizations or employees outside the Kingdom. Such work must be contracted out to organizations that hold a license from the Ministry of Tourism or the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development to assign Saudis.

The new rules place a number of requirements on tourism establishments and apply to all activities authorized by the Ministry of Tourism. Before starting work, facilities must register every employee in the systems of the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development.

The ministry highlighted that adherence to these policies will be closely overseen, and any violations will incur penalties, implemented in coordination with the relevant government authorities.