Several expatriates have stressed the need to make available translated copies of the country’s labour rules in different languages, including English.
Justifying the demand, they said providing copies of the Ministry of Administrative Development, Labour and Social Affairs’ guidelines in languages that are most commonly spoken by the country’s expatriates would help offer clarity on ways to address the issues faced by workers.
Some expatriates who are facing problems at their workplace, as well as with a sponsor or his/her representative, say “lack of clarity and information on the labour rules” have left them clueless about lodging complaints in the event of any dispute at work.
One of them said a number of affected people are unable to get convincing replies from even those (including licensed mandoops, or public relations officers) who claim to be aware of the country’s labour rules pertaining to issues such as delay in salary payments or non-payment of salaries against the work delivered. The expatriate said when he faced some problems related to non-payment of salaries by his employers, he approached a few people in the community seeking advice.
However, he soon realised that the responses varied and none seemed to offer a clear idea of how to proceed with the matter.
Such issues could be effectively addressed if translated copies of the labour rules are made available, preferably in the mother tongue of the aggrieved party, he suggested and cited various examples of information and services available in different languages.
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