Secondment of Government Employees in Saudi Arabia “Between Reality and Expectations”

Abstract

This paper aimed to identify various aspects of the secondment of Public Sector Employees in Saudi Arabia by proposing a policy that might help to activate and coordinate the secondment of personnel in Saudi Arabia. To achieve the objectives of this paper, it has been divided into five parts. The first part is the theoretical framework of the issue in which we address the importance of secondment of personnel in the public sector in Saudi Arabia. Then I will review the concept and importance of the secondment of personnel in general. In the second part we will review several international experiences, while in the third part, we will focus on the current reality of the secondment regulations applied in Saudi Arabia. In the fourth part, we will analyze the current situation by identifying strengths and weaknesses in the secondment regulation of the personnel in Saudi Arabia. Finally, the study will propose a policy to activate, coordinate and encourage the secondment of personnel in Saudi Arabia. It is worth mentioning that the paper concluded that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia devoted a regulation for the secondment of personnel both within and outside Saudi Arabia, through the public sector personnel may be seconded to some government, regional or international bodies. However, within the Kingdom does not allowed to second the public sector personnel except for some government agencies that have special private system and this deprives several government agencies to take advantage of the unique experiences in some government agencies. In addition, I will suggest new regulations that will allow private sector to second their employees to government agencies. In conclusion there is a need to develop the secondment regulation to allow the secondment of the government agencies personnel among them, regardless of being a ministry or a public institution, as there is an urgent need to add regulatory articles for the secondment to second Saudi employees working in the private sector to various government agencies through the secondment of their services for specific periods such as four years as an example along with providing them with financial incentives to encourage their services secondment.