A source at contractor Saudi Oger has said that 31,000 employees have lodged complaints over alleged delayed wages, according to press reports.

Both Saudi and foreign workers are said to have filed complaints with the Saudi Arabian Labour Office, an Arab News report said.

The news follows the decision by the government to stop the company from receiving projects after it received multiple complaints about the non-payment of wages, the newspaper said.

Saudi Oger workers cannot leave the country as the Labour Ministry has stopped the employer’s services, including social security insurance and access to the Passport Department’s portal, the report added.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the source said that the company had terminated the contracts of Saudi engineers and foreign workers in all of its branches in Riyadh, Jeddah, Mecca, Madinah, Jazan, Hail and the Eastern Province.

None of their dues have been settled, the source claimed. He also claimed that some engineers had not been paid for the last nine months, meaning that there was a large amount of debt as employees struggled to provide for their families.

A manager, who also preferred to remain anonymous, said that as many as 58,000 employees found themselves in dire straits, with 23% of them being Saudi.