The Ministry of Labor and Social Development (MLSD) said on Tuesday 89 recruitment offices have been halted from work due to high numbers of runaway cases who fail to fulfil contract period as such agencies are banned from using all services that MLSD and other entities offer. According to with the recruitment regulations and rules related to offering labor services, the violating office that acts as a mediator to recruit domestic helpers will be suspended for a period of six months or more if the number of runaway domestic workers or those who refuse to work exceeds the fixed percentage of such cases. Khaled Abalkhail, spokesman at MLSD, a shutdown of 89 offices comes with the ministry’s efforts in regulating the domestic labor market as the recruitment offices and companies are required to inform their workers of contract provisions as well as urging them to view their rights and duties towards employers under the recruitment regulations. The spokesman stressed the ministry is keen on ensuring that these offices and companies comply with the recruitment regulations through conducting inspection rounds and checking their status on the ministry’s online system. The labor official said the ministry seeks to protect rights of customers, ensure fairness, serve the public interest and penalize those who violate the regulations, urging the recruitment agencies to follow the rules. He also called upon customers to deal with approved offices and companies whose data is published on the Musaned website (www.musaned.gov.sa).