By Nizar Kochery/Doha
QUESTION: Is it compulsory for a company to maintain the receipt of payment to workers’ monthly wages? We normally disburse wages through cash or by bank depending on our collection. Workers now claim overtime payment at the rate of 150% of their salary. What is the law on this? Does the eight-hour work include a break? There is one-hour lunch break in our company.
DU, Doha
ANSWER: Employer should keep proof of payment of wages. As per law, wages shall be paid to the worker within the working day and during working hours in the usual place of work or any other place to be approved by the Labour Department. They may be transferred to the worker’s bank account or paid to the attorney appointed by the worker in writing.
Accordingly, the employer shall not be relieved from its obligation to pay the wage unless the employer has actually transferred the wages to the bank or the worker or his attorney has signed in acknowledgement of the receipt thereof in the register or receipt prepared for this purpose, provided that the documents shall include the details of the wage.
Regarding work hours, the maximum ordinary working hours shall be 48 per week at the rate of eight per day. Break time shall not be taken into consideration in calculating the working hours. Also the time spent by the worker in transportation to and from the place of work and residence of the worker shall not form part of the working hours.
The normal overtime rate is 125% and for off days and holidays workers will be entitled for 150%. Also, the workers excluding shift workers who work between 9pm and 6am shall be paid @150%.
No pay during annual leave
Q: In our company no salary is paid during annual leave. In fact the company holds one month’s salary to ensure that the worker is coming back after vacation. Is this legally correct?
DR, Doha
A: Article 68 of the Qatar Labour Laws stipulates that the employer shall pay to the worker before the worker takes his annual leave the wages to which the worker is entitled for the work he has performed up to the date of taking the leave in addition to the leave wages to which the worker is entitled. Accordingly the practice of the employer is not in compliance. Attachment or withholding of salary to ensure return of worker after annual leave is not legal.
Flouting terms of purchase
Q: In a procurement/delivery through carrier, a deviation from the terms of purchase is noticed. How can the buyer address this situation? The carrier is forcing to accept the material. Please advice.
TH, Doha
A: As per Article 151 of the Trade Laws, the buyer shall not assume the responsibility of accepting the documents sent by the seller if they are not conforming to the conditions set out in the sale contract. The buyer shall be deemed to have accepted such documents if he does not raise any objection within seven days from the date of delivering such documents to him.
The objection shall be made by notifying the seller to send documents duly consistent with the relevant conditions, within a reasonable period. The buyer shall after the expiry of such a period claim recession of the sale, with compensation, if justifiable.
However, if the buyer rejects the documents for certain reasons or accepts the same under conditions, he shall not thereafter raise any objection for reasons or conditions, other than those previously indicated. If the buyer rejects the documents without any justifiable reasons, he shall be liable for compensating the seller for any damages incurred.
Execution of judgement
Q: We are in a court case on a cross-country transaction. Not all litigants plaintiff/defendants are in Qatar. We may require execution of the judgement outside Qatar. In this situation a detailed judgement is important. Our contact person in Qatar who is monitoring the case mentioned us that the judgement would contain only the conclusion and not details. Please advice on this. Do we need to submit any special petition for such information in the judgement?
KPM, Doha
A: Article 126 of the Procedural Law – Law No 13 of 1990 stipulates that the judgement must comprise the grounds upon which it has been based, otherwise it shall be void.
The court which has pronounced the judgement, date of its pronouncement and place thereof, name of judges who hear the pleading and took part in the judgement and attended its hearing, names of litigants, their titles, capacity, domicile of each of them, their appearance and absence, all of this must be stated in the judgement.
The judgement must comprise a summary of minutes of action, litigants’ motions and a brief summary of their rebuttals and essential pleading; then grounds of judgement and its text must be stated.
Inadequacy of the factual grounds of judgement, grave imperfection or mistake in the name of litigants and their capacities; also failure to state name of judges who pronounced the judgement shall ensue the nullity of the judgement.
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LEGAL SYSTEM IN QATAR
An attorney may, at any time and notwithstanding an agreement to the contrary, renounce his mandate even though there is agreement to the contrary. In this case the attorney must indemnify the appointer for the damage resulting from the renunciation at an inopportune time or without an acceptable excuse.
However, the attorney shall not have the right to renounce a mandate given in the interests of a third party, unless there are serious reasons justifying such renunciation and unless he notifies the third party and gives him enough time to take such action as may be necessary to safeguard his interests.
Under Article 737, if the mandate is terminated before completing the work subject to mandate, the attorney shall bring the work commenced to a stage where there is no fear of causing damage to the appointer.
When the mandate is extinguished by the death of the attorney; his heirs, if they have the necessary legal capacity and knowledge of the mandate; are bound to inform the appointer immediately of the death of the attorney and to take such steps as circumstances demand in the appointer’s interests.
Article 738 defines deposit. Deposit is a contract whereby one person agrees to take delivery from another person of a thing which he undertakes to keep in safe custody and return in kind. The depository is bound to take delivery of the thing deposited. He is not entitled to make use of the thing deposited without the express or implied authority of the depositor.
Unless otherwise agreed, when the deposit is gratuitous, the depository is bound to exercise, in the custody of the thing, the care which he employs in his own affairs, without, however, being bound to exercise a degree of diligence exceeding that of a normal person and when the deposit is for remuneration, the depository must exercise in the custody of the thing deposited the diligence of a normal person.
The depository may not, without the express authority of the depositor, appoint a substitute to take over the custody of the thing deposited, unless he is compelled to do so by reason of urgent and absolute necessity.
Article 743 stipulates that the depository is bound to return the thing deposited as soon as he is required so to do by the depositor. If it appears from the contract that the time limit has been fixed in the interest of the depository, he shall be entitled to remuneration for the remaining term in addition to compensation if there is ground therefore.
The depository may, at any time, compel the depositor to take back the thing deposited, unless it follows from the contract that the term of the deposit was fixed in the interests of the depositor.