You’re all set up in the UAE and going places with your business. Now you have your ambitions set on further expansion into the Middle East. Next stop: Saudi Arabia. And why not? The Kingdom is making great strides in welcoming foreign businesses and making it easier to set up there.
But Saudi is a different country. Setting up means you need to get onboard with country-specific labour legislation, tax laws, social security and other logistics that you might not even know about at this point.
OPS is here to help you expand into Saudi Arabia.
Middle Eastern specialists
OPS specializes in human resources in the whole Middle Eastern neighborhood. Our teams have on-the-ground experience to help clients set up shop in various locations throughout the region. Saudi Arabia is no exception. We offer go-to local knowledge regarding legal matters, such as labour law requirements, the Kingdom’s social security requirements and in-depth understanding of the General Organization of Social Insurance (GOSI).
All employers in Saudi Arabia must provide valid employment contracts in Arabic, as well as the employee’s native tongue or English. OPS knows the employment contract requirements and has the capacity to provide the contracts in the right languages, saving you time and effort to try and do these without that local – or language – knowledge.
Local employment rules
Our private sector clients setting up in Saudi Arabia use OPS specifically for our local knowledge, like the Saudization program that requires private sector employers to hire a percentage of Saudi nationals. The percentages depend on your industry and number of employees, but you don’t have to worry about any of these because OPS can inform you about the requirements and processes every step of the way.
Other local knowledge includes the working week and hours, for example. When OPS run payroll for employees in Saudi, we’d take into account leave entitlement and rights pertaining specifically to religious holidays, and when these are in a given year, how the working week works, what employees’ and employers’ rights are in any given case, keeping you on the right side of the law and your obligations are employer.
To employ non-Saudi nationals in the Kingdom employers must ensure their employees have the right to work there. Employers are responsible for providing the right visa and work permits. OPS have regular dealings with government departments in Saudi to help employers with the process and ensure minimal disruption to your operations, while ensuring everyone complies to the local laws.
Other labour law requirements, such as end of service and termination rules, social security contributions and tax deductions and payments, require companies to be on top of the labour legislation. However, these rules frequently change, and to stay abreast of these changes can be daunting while you’re also trying to get a business off the ground in a foreign country. Therefore Saudi labour law experts at OPS can take care of your organisation’s labour compliance, ensuring you don’t get stumped in your expansion plans. We mentioned the Saudi-specific department of social insurance, GOSI. The Kingdom has in recent years updated its social security system substantially, giving employees income protection more in line with international standards. OPS already has the infrastructure to set up and comply with GOSI for our clients from the outset of operations.
Peace of mind
Aside from our local knowledge in employment and HR-related matters in Saudi Arabia, OPS has licensing requirements and business set up procedures expertise to help foreign-owned businesses to hit the ground running despite being new in the Kingdom. Part of the services we provide our clients is to inform and help you with setting up your business, and ensuring you tick all the boxes for a compliant, successful setup.
Complementary to our range of services we also offer tax advice pertaining to employment in Saudi Arabia, a complex subject in its own right.
There are a lot of complicated compliance procedures to adhere to when setting up in a new country. It can even be more daunting if the country is culturally somewhat different because of the region it is in. The Middle East is a unique area in the world unlike any other and require specialist knowledge. And looking at each country within the Middle East, the requirements and processes can be even more daunting or even mysterious. It’s our job at OPS to demystify the idiosyncrasies of each country with our local, expert knowledge.
The opportunities for businesses to expand to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia are indisputable. Expanding into Saudi Arabia has never been easier with OPS.