employment certificate

[mrsmallari]

i am a registered nurse. in 2013 i flew to riyadh and it was my first time in saudi arabia. I was assigned to a dental clinic in exit 9. i worked in riyadh for 2 years and 4 months but my saudi employer did not want to give me a certificate of employment. 6 months before the end of my contract, i already submitted a resignation letter to let them know that i will no longer renew my contract to them and for them to have enough time to prepare the needed documents for exit. My employer told me that i cannot exit and must finish according to my iqama's expiration. i arrived in riyadh september 2013 and left january 2016. i decided not to renew my contract because of the salary and other reasons. my salary was 1500 + 200 food allowance. we worked overtime without pay and we are being locked in the building. the only time we can go out is during friday afternoon. he said he will just give me if i stayed in his clinic for 4 years.i asked him many times to please give me my certificate to avoid any problems on my next employment. i asked badly because i know that on my next application it will be a necessity to have one for the renewal of my saudi license and for future employments. before i resigned and decided to exit, few nurses also left the clinic and also was not given a certificate. i have a very difficult time finding job because of this. i am also tempted to try and make a fake document but fear of being caught makes me think that it is not a good idea and can only give me further problems in the future. i heard so many cases in saudi that their employers did not want to release a certificate of employment and tried reporting it to the poea or other offices but response is very slow. what can i do to obtain my certificate.

[dishes, BSN, RN]

I understand you need a certificate of employment to work again, but it is unlikely you will get one. If you google search abuse against Asian domestic workers in Saudi Arabia and/or labor exploitation against migrant worker in Saudi Arabia, you will see plenty of articles/media reports that show your experience is not unique. The POEA is aware that nurses are being exploited and have been aware for many years, however other than forewarn nurses that they are at risk of being exploited, there isn't much else they can or will do about the matter.

If you are safe and back home in your own country, try to be grateful that your experience wasn't worse. Hopefully, a new job opportunity will come along and the employer will accept that it was impossible for you to get a letter of employment from your Saudi employer. Do not make the mistake of committing fraud by forging a letter of employment, as it is an easy forgery to detect and could result in you being blacklisted and never working as a nurse again.