The Wage Protection Program is one of the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development's programs aimed at providing a suitable and safe work environment in the private sector, increasing transparency, and developing and enhancing the attractiveness of the labor market in the KSA. The program targets several priorities, including improving working conditions for Saudi and expatriate workers, protecting their rights and the rights of establishments. The Ministry launched the program in its developed version in 2020 through Mudad platform, coinciding with the availability of one of the most important systems enabling the Wage Protection Program, the "Payroll Management System," allowing all private sector establishments to comply with the program's requirements easily and conveniently.
The Wage Protection Program initially targeted a number of no more than (300) establishments, and it was implemented gradually in several phases until the total number of establishments it currently covers reached more than (900,000) establishments, achieving - during 2024 - a compliance rate of more than 88% of the total private sector establishments, protecting the wages of more than (8,500,000) employees in the KSA, representing the monitoring and processing of (300,000) files monthly with a wage volume of 35 billion Saudi Riyals. This contributed to the KSA achieving the second place globally in the Anti-Human Trafficking Index, reducing commercial concealment crimes, decreasing reliance on cash transactions, and attracting foreign investments from regional companies for its contribution to providing a safe and attractive work environment for expatriates.
The program also contributed to a direct decrease in the percentage of labor cases after the program reached its final stages of implementation, which included micro-enterprises, achieving its goal of preserving the rights of the establishment and the employee. This is due to the monthly monitoring of the wage files of all private sector employees, in addition to providing an easy and smooth customer experience and effective communication with the program beneficiaries at the level of employers and employees. The "Mudad" payroll management and transfer system played a significant role in enabling and allowing establishments to comply easily by transferring wages in a few simple steps, directly linking with a wide network of local banks in the KSA.