Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2025, published 114th ILC session (2026)

Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111) - Saudi Arabia (Ratification: 1978)

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Complaint made under article 26 of the ILO Constitution. The Committee recalls that, at its 355th Session (November 2025), the Governing Body declared admissible a complaint concerning non-observance of the Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29), the Protection of Wages Convention, 1949 (No. 95), and the Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111), made under article 26 of the ILO Constitution by several Workers’ delegates to the 113th Session (2025) of the International Labour Conference (GB.355/INS/17/1).

Representation made pursuant to article 24 of the ILO Constitution. The Committee also notes that the Governing Body, at its 352nd Session (November 2024), declared as admissible the representation submitted by the Building and Wood Workers’ International (BWI) alleging non-observance of the Convention (GB.352/INS/20/8, para. 6). It notes that the representation concerned, inter alia, issues related to discrimination in employment and occupation based on race against migrant workers, including domestic migrant workers, which were the subject of the Committee’s previous comments. The Committee notes that, at its 355th Session (November 2025), the Governing Body approved the report of the tripartite committee set up to examine the representation, which requested the Government to provide, no later than 1 September 2026, a report on the application of the Convention, including information on the follow-up given to the Tripartite Committee’s conclusions and recommendations (GB.355/INS/17/1, para. 11). The Committee therefore has decided to defer the examination of these issues until 2026.

Article 1(1) of the Convention. Prohibited grounds of discrimination. Legislation. The Committee notes the indication in the Government’s report that: (1) section 3 of the Labour Law prohibits discrimination based on gender, disability or age, or any other form of discrimination; (2) paragraph 4 was inserted in section 61 of the Labour Law, establishing that an employer shall “refrain from doing anything that would nullify or impair the application of equal opportunities or treatment in employment and occupation, whether through exclusion, discrimination or preference among applicants for employment or his employees, on the basis of race, colour, gender, age, disability or social status, as well as any other form of discrimination” (Royal Decree No. (M/44) of 8/2/1446 (2024)). The Government also stresses that, while section 3 affirms at the outset that work is the right of every “citizen”, all the rights, duties and obligations stipulated in the Labour Law include all workers equally, and that no discrimination cases have been brought before courts. The Committee asks the Government to: (i) indicate whether “social status” in section 61.4 of the Labour Law covers all aspects of “social origin” as recognized in the Convention; (ii) ensure that the legislative framework, including the provisions of the Labour Law, provide effective protection against all grounds of discrimination set out in Article 1(1)(a) of the Convention, and to provide information on cases where such provisions have been applied to discrimination based on such grounds.

The Committee is raising other matters in a request addressed directly to the Government.