The decision of the Ministry of Administrative Development, Labour and Social Affairs (MADLSA) to stop the renewal of the employment contract of expatriate workers aged 60 and above will be implemented soon, local Arabic daily Al Watan has reported.

According to a report published by the daily on Saturday, the decision stipulates the exit of the expatriate worker after reaching the age of 60 years and accordingly, his residency permit would not be renewed. "He would have to exit the country for good after receiving all his dues; the step aims at opening up the door for recruiting young talents who could serve the development plans of the country," the report said.
Quoting sources, the daily said MADLSA is set to enforce the decision at both the private and the public sectors, "as it had been reviewed and studies conducted throughout the previous period".
"Besides, a legal and administrative framework has been adopted to automatically terminate the work contract of expatriate workers when they reach the age of 60. They will be paid all their dues and rights and allowed to leave the country for good during the specified legal period mentioned in the law."
However, the decision is expected to have provisions to determine the profession and nationalities that would be exempted from the rule.
Meanwhile, the sources told the daily that no new work visa would be issued to a company if there is an available Qatari alternative registered at the MADLSA database. "If a Qatari job seeker who fulfills the requirements of the new vacancy is available, the job would be given to such a person. The hiring company would have to equip the recruited Qatari by providing him with the necessary training and qualification programmes to help him fit in the job."
MADLSA has been preparing a comprehensive database on the status of labour in the country. The database also contains the size of the required labour force for the market compared with the available number of workers in the country, the Al Watan report added.

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