The protection of employees’ rights: a comparative analysis of the UK and Saudi Arabia

II) Research question(s)

One of most significant labour law questions in almost every country around the globe is if their employees has sufficient protection from a humanitarian and financial perspective. In this regard, the Saudi labour law has undergone numerous adjustments in the past few years, aiming to provide minimal protection for the concerned individuals and therefore create a safety net for them. Nevertheless, the adjustments in question have created uncertainty for a number of employers when it comes to the compliance with the related regulations. Subsequently, that has led a number of employers to violate their employees’ rights.

In order to assess the impact and appropriateness of these recent adjustments on associated employee’s rights, the UK labour system will be compared with the Saudi system in an effort to reflect on improvements that could be made to existing laws. The UK system has been chosen due to the fact that the UK labour laws are entrenched in UK law, and arguably more stable as a result.

III) Aims and objectives

The dissertation will focus on the similarities and differences of both jurisdictions, in order to measure the relative effectiveness of the recent adjustments in Saudi Arabian labour law, with a view to commenting on meeting various humanitarian and financial imperatives of workers’ rights.

In addition, it will, briefly, cover the historical background of both sides to understand the genesis of the current laws.

IV) Methodology

The method that has been chosen for this research will mainly be a comparative approach, focusing on the doctrinal similarities and

dissimilarities between the two jurisdictions, in order to focus on the appropriateness of recent labour law reform in Saudi Arabia.

These sources can be used as well as others:

Primary sources:

Cases Brierley v Asda [2006]

MS P O’NEILL -v- JAEGER RETAIL LIMITED [2019]

Legislation

UK

Employment Rights Act 1996 Working Time Regulations 1998

National Minimum Wage Act 1998

Saudi Arabia Saudi labour law 2005

Secondary sources:

Books

Turner, Chris, Janice Nairns, Unlocking Employment Law, Taylor & Francis Group, 2013

Journal Articles

Al-Mazrou, Y, ‘How labor laws can transform health systems: The case of Saudi Arabia’ [2017] OKR, Volume 3, Issue 1

Alem SM. When We Tell You We Can Do It, Believe Us: An Analysis of the Legislation and Policies Related to the Employment of Women with Disabilities in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia [dissertation]. Ann Arbor: University of Massachusetts Boston; 2020.