What Employers Should Know About Cross-Border Talent Mobility in GCC Countries

The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, which includes the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, and Bahrain, are rapidly changing. New businesses are flourishing, and there's a soaring need for a qualified labor force. Since local workforces cannot always cover all the vacant jobs, companies are forced to look overseas for the right candidates.

Transferring employees across the border or within the GCC can be very lucrative, but it also involves new challenges. Here is an easy-to-understand manual for what employers should know about changing countries with their workers in the GCC region nowadays.

Attracting Local and Foreign Workers

Right now, countries of the GCC are trying to achieve two goals simultaneously: recruiting excellent foreign professionals and at the same time training their own nationals to be part of the workforce.

In fact, every member state of the GCC has its own system of nationalization, like Emiratisation in the UAE or Saudization in Saudi Arabia. These programs compel companies to hire a certain number/proportion of native citizens, especially in the private sector.

If you are sourcing talents worldwide, you have to take into account local quotas. International recruitment while complying with local standards is a must to avoid heavy penalties or problems with business licensing.

Permissions to Work and Immigration Laws

The visa landscape in the GCC is becoming more flexible to attract global talent, but it remains uniquely tied to specific corporate compliance and regional regulations. The Kafala (sponsorship) system in the past meant that the employee was tied to only one employer. Although there are still some features of the system, countries are now reforming their regulations in order to attract top-notch talent.

• Golden Visas and Premium Residencies: The UAE offers 5 and 10-year renewable residency permits, while Saudi Arabia provides Premium Residency options (including annual renewable or permanent residency) to investors, executives, and specialists with niche skills. 
• Intra-GCC Mobility: Moving an expatriate employee from a Dubai branch to a Riyadh branch requires starting a brand-new residency and work permit process in Saudi Arabia. The employee must first properly cancel their UAE residency visa before their new Saudi work visa can be fully finalized. 

The procedures of these countries are interrelated and yet may be slightly different. While it is possible to do each procedure yourself, it is common and beneficial for businesses to use the expertise of recruitment firms to keep up with the changes, regulations, and criteria.

Local Labor Laws and Compliance

GCC laws that pertain to employment not only safeguard the workforce but also articulate the different aspects of labor contracts, working hours, and termination explicitly. Contrary to what some may think, there is not a single labor law that applies uniformly across all the GCC countries.

For example, The UAE enacted labor reforms, resulting in the implementation of fixed-term contracts in the private sector. In contrast, Saudi Arabia's labor regulations focus more on working hours, occupational safety, and the payment of end-of-service benefits (which is a form of severance pay).

Not paying workers their wages on time and not registering them in local payroll systems such as the Wage Protection System (WPS) in the UAE and Saudi Arabia may lead to a situation where your company will be denied access to government portals.

Cultural Alignment and Onboarding

Getting a competent professional is a feat that gets you even halfway there. The stress level for employees and their families in cross-border mobility is quite high.

Employers have to do a thorough onboarding for talent coming to the GCC region. This may also cover an explanation of local customs, cultural practices, help with accommodation and school for children, a guide to medical insurance policies, etc. Employees usually stay longer and are more productive if the transition is smooth and easy for them.

The Value of Recruitment Partners

Many HR teams at your company can easily get overwhelmed if you force them to handle international hiring, visa processing, labor compliance, etc. without any help. This is one of the reasons why so many thriving companies implementing overseas manpower recruitment plans are turning to experts for the management of such strategies.

Well-established agencies have extensive regional contacts and excellent knowledge of the local laws. Besides helping you directly with hiring pre-qualified talent, such agencies also reduce the hiring time significantly and ensure that from the very beginning your company is fully compliant with the local labor law requirements.

Build Your GCC Team with TASC Outsourcing

Taking your business through the Gulf Cooperation Council is a powerful way to grow, but to do it you need a talented, compliant, and responsive team. At TASC Outsourcing, we can help you with cross-border recruitment and take the stress of it off your shoulders. Being a leading recruitment and contract staffing partner in the region, we take care of the entire process, like sourcing the right talent, onboarding, and visa compliance.

Allow our regional experts to deal with the operational complexities while you focus on the growth of your business. Get in touch with TASC Outsourcing and book a talent consultation to expand your GCC operations seamlessly.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Can an expat employee work across multiple GCC countries under one visa?

To work in Saudi Arabia, an employee must have a Saudi work permit and a residency visa. An employee who is present in Saudi Arabia with a UAE visa does not have the right to work legally in Saudi Arabia unless he/she has a proper Saudi work permit and residency visa.

2. What are the penalties for missing nationalization quotas?

Depending on the country, penalties for disregarding nationalization quotas can be quite harsh. Apart from large financial fines, a company may also be prohibited from obtaining new work visas and may be banned from government procurement.

3. What is the Wage Protection System (WPS)?

The Wage Protection System (WPS) is an electronic method for salary transfer implemented, for example, in the UAE and Saudi Arabia. It is a regulatory requirement imposed on employers to pay wages through approved banks or financial institutions to show that workers are paid properly and on time.

4. Do long-term visas like the Golden Visa mean the employer doesn't have to do anything?

Holding a self-sponsored Golden Visa by the employee does not exempt the employer from the responsibility to draw up a compliant local employment contract and register the employee with the Ministry of Human Resources or other relevant authorities.

5. How long does it usually take to mobilize a cross-border worker?

Depending on the country and the job role, a combination of visa issuance and background checks generally takes from 2 up to 6 weeks if all educational certificates are fully legalized and attested.