Labour Ministry programme to guarantee salaries of workers

Saleh al-Shawi, director of Labour Relations in the ministry, said the rights of workers would be protected at all times and these included providing decent accommodation and living conditions, the report states.

Further, al-Shawi said a new type of employment contracts could be designed to conform to the new legal provisions. He stressed that the reforms would benefit both the employer and the employee and ensure the implementation of “fair work” principles, according to the report.

The official said the ministry is currently working to develop its departments and mechanisms to implement the reforms in a manner that will ensure effective implementation of the principle mentioned above, the report adds.

The amendments to the labour law will impact workers following their approval by the government after going through its “legislative cycle”.

Under the new proposals, the NOC that regulates the transfer of employees to different employers would be replaced with an “employment contract system”, which would allow workers on “fixed-term” contracts to transfer to another employer at the end of that term. If the employment contract of a worker is “indefinite”, the employee can switch jobs to another employer after five years from the date of the contract.

A model employment contract would be distributed by the government that would contain the new terms and conditions contained in the laws.

Employers would be able to add conditions to the model contract as long as they were consistent with the new law.

All existing contracts would remain valid until employers bring them in line with the new model contract within a one year grace period “from the time the new law goes into effect”.

The proposed amendments to the labour law and system will apply to all migrant workers in Qatar, including domestic workers and unskilled labourers.