After 9 months of its implementation, and thousands of affected workers leaving the labor market, the Fatwa and Legislation Department dropped a bombshell, that the government made a grave mistake when issuing its decision to ban work permits for expatriates over the age of 60, which came into effect on Jan 1, 2020.
The head of the Fatwa and Legislation Department, Counselor Salah Al-Masad, said in response to a request for legal opinion submitted by the Minister of Trade and Industry, Dr. Abdullah Al-Salman that tbe government erred in the decision is that it was issued based on a canceled decision, which means that the decision to ban work permits for expatriates over 60 who hold secondary certificates and below that, was not legally sound.
According to the ‘Fatwa’ opinion the decision issued by the Director General of the Public Authority for Manpower was issued by a person who is not competent to issue it.
A security source told Al-Qabas that the decision does not apply to those (60 years and above) whose residency has been revoked and are outside the country.
The source said that a distinction must be made between those in the country who are over 60 years old and above whose residence can be renewed whenever the door opens for renewal.