Riyadh, Nov 14 (IANS): Private companies that hire more foreigners than Saudis will be fined as part of a government plan to tackle unemployment in the country.
Starting from Nov 15, private companies whose foreign employees outnumber local workers will be charged around $640 for each foreign worker they employ.
The fines will be paid by companies annually when they apply for or renew their employees' work permits, Xinhua Tuesday quoted the Saudi news agency as saying.
The money will be allocated to the human resources development fund, which will conduct vocational training courses for the Saudis, according to the labour ministry.
The fines are not applicable to foreigners whose mothers are of Saudi origin or nationals from the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, and domestic workers.