By Nizar Kochery/Doha


QUESTION: I have been terminated from my job without any reason. I have read that the employer should permit the employee to search for a new employment upon termination. I have asked for a certificate of experience to attend an interview. The company refuses to grant it. They also hold my original certificates which I have submitted for my family visa.
XY, Doha

ANSWER: Regarding permission to search for other employment provided under Article 50, this opportunity is only for Qatari employees. However, companies are required by law to issue experience certificates to workers and to return their certificates, documents, etc which the worker deposited with the employer while entry in service.
According to Article 53, the employer shall free of charge issue the worker upon his demand, a service certificate indicating the date of entry in service, the date of expiry of employment, the nature of work and the amount of wage, etc. upon expiry of the service contract.

Gratuity calculation
Q: I am resigning from my job this Ramadan after completing three years with a company. I don’t trust the company’s calculation of my gratuity. How should it be calculated?
MGN, Doha

A: According to Article 54 of the Labour Laws, end-of-service gratuity shall be payable to those employees with one or more years of continuous service and unless otherwise agreed a higher rate between the employer and employee, gratuity shall be calculated at the rate of three  weeks’ basic salary per year of service.

Painting contract
Q: We have agreed as a contractor to paint a new house under construction. It had been agreed that the building would be handed over after plastering in November last year. However there was structural work delay and it couldn’t be handed over on time. Can we terminate the contract?
GT, Doha

A: Under Article 692 of the civil laws, where the execution of the work requires the client to do a certain act but he fails to do it at the appropriate time, the contractor may instruct him to do it within a reasonable time limit which he shall prescribe. If the time limit expires without the client’s performance of his obligation, the contractor may request termination of the contract without prejudice to his right to compensation if there are grounds therefor.

  • Accounting mistakes

Q: What will be the validity of a judgment issued if there is an error in it? The error is related to accounting. Could the judgment possible to be corrected or void itself? What we will do? Will this be another case?
ST, Doha

A: Mere clerical or accounting errors shall not affect the validity of judgment. The court shall undertake the correction of such errors in its judgment, by a decision taken by the court of its own motion, or at the request of one of the litigants without pleadings.
The registry of the court shall make the correction on the original copy of the judgment and it shall be finally signed by the presiding judge. Any decision rejecting a correction shall not be challenged except with the objection to the judgement itself. However, the decision to correct may be appealed separately, if the court exceeds its authority provided as above, by the applicable procedure for appealing the correction of a judgment.

Grant of working visa
Q: Is there any restriction on granting a visa for a repatriated employee on resignation? The termination has been by the employee and not by the employer. The employee is still in the country and the employer has not filed any complaint against the employee but has accepted the resignation. The employer has no objection in employee coming back or working with others during the visa period but no such letter will be issued. Could we employ such an employee for short term? We need some manpower to complete a specific task.
GU, Doha

A: Unless otherwise supported by a letter of no-objection from the current employer, Article 4 restricts grant of working visa to an expatriate, who has been residing in the state for work purposes prior completion of two years from the departure date.
Moreover Article 15 of Law No 4 of 2009 prohibits working for employers other than the sponsor and employing anybody who are not under their sponsorship. Any violation is punishable under Article 51 by imprisonment for a term not exceeding three years and a fine not exceeding fifty thousand riyals, or one of these two penalties.
However as exception, the appropriate authorities can grant permission to the sponsor to give his workers to others on hiring for a period not exceeding six months renewable to similar periods.

Please send your questions by  e-mail to: [email protected]

 


LEGAL SYSTEM IN QATAR

A surety who has jointly and severally guaranteed the debtor may avail himself of all the defences which a surety who is not jointly and severally liable may invoke with regard to the debt. When there are several sureties jointly and severally liable or they have undertaken to guarantee the same debt by successive contracts, a surety who has paid the whole debt on maturity may call upon each of the other sureties, to pay his share of the debt as well as a proportionate part in the share of any joint and several surety who is insolvent.
A surety shall give the debtor notice before paying the debt. However, if action is brought against him by the creditor, he must involve the debtor as a litigant in the case.
If he fails to give notice to the debtor before payment of the debt or if he does not seek to involve him as a litigant in the case, he will forfeit his right of action against the debtor if the latter has himself paid the debt or had grounds for having the debt declared void or extinguished.
A surety who has paid the debt has the right of action against the debtor to claim the principal amount of the debt, costs of the first claim and expenses incurred from the date of giving notice to the debtor in respect of the action against him. On payment of the debt, the surety is subrogated to all the rights of the creditor against the debtor.
If he pays only part of the debt, the surety can only exercise such rights in respect of that part he has paid after the creditor has recovered from the debtor the whole of the debt due.
When there are several debtors jointly and severally liable for one and the same debt, a surety who has guaranteed them all, has a remedy against each of them for all that he has paid in respect of the debt.
In the absence of a provision of the law or of an agreement to the contrary, ownership carries with it the right to all benefits, products and accessories of the thing owned. The owner of a thing has alone, within the limits of the law, the right to use, to enjoy and to dispose of it.
The ownership of land includes that which is above and below, as far as it can be usefully enjoyed in height or depth unless there is a provision of the law or legal action to the contrary.
A landlord shall not have access to his neighbour’s property except within the limits prescribed by law. If the legal disposal contains a clause stipulating the inalienability of a property, such a clause will only be valid if based on a legitimate reason and limited to a reasonable duration. No one can be deprived of his property except in  cases and in the manner provided for by law and upon payment of fair compensation.