New Labour Reform Laws In Qatar 2022

Introduction

Qatar is one of the prominent Middle-east countries whose development is on the rise as we speak. A country has immense modernity in its infrastructure, daily life commute, technology and metropolitan cities. One can associate the term growth with Qatar. Qatar not only attracts an array of people for its tourism, but the business is also an essential factor responsible for the same. 

The rapid growth in businesses, infrastructure and economy, is also responsible for attracting thousands of people from different countries entering Qatar to seek better opportunities and improve their standard of living. As a result, Qatar is currently taking the responsibility of providing jobs for almost 2 million people. In the wake of this, the country acknowledges the welfare of its guest workers by constantly making reforms in its labour laws which suit both employees and employers. That's why in this article, we will be discussing Qatar's new labour reform laws with other necessary information. 

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Qatar's New Labour Reform Laws

As the nation is being progressive, the  Qatar government, too, has been taking advanced measures for the betterment of workers in the country. Major labour reforms have been put into place over the past few years by the government, including -

Minimum Wage System 

• The government has decided to introduce a minimum wage system for all employees working in every sector across the nation, including domestic workers. 
• The minimum wage amount that is decided to be set is QAR 1,000 with the addition of QAR 500 per month for accommodation and QAR 300 per month for food must be additionally provided by the employer unless they provide the same. 
• Qatar has also decided to set up a Minimum Wage Committee, which is responsible for checking periodically the impact and application of this system for workers and domestic workers, which was introduced in March 2021. 

No-Objection Certificate

Following this system, employees no longer require No-Objection Certificates to terminate their contract. The decision has been taken by the government following their Qatar National Vision 2030 aim of attracting, providing, and ensuring safety for the workers in the country.

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Here are some crucial points for the employees - 

• Employees are allowed to follow any new opportunities in the country which strengthen the economy through local and international business.
• If the employee has worked with the employer for two years or less, they can terminate their contract by providing written notice before one month of their exit. Similarly, if they have worked with the employer for more than two years or less, they can provide the same notice prior to 2 months before their exit.
• Employees can be put on probation for a specific period of time, decided mutually by the employer. The duration of the same should not exceed six months from the date an employee has commenced their work. 
• The employer can ask the employee officially that they cannot compete with them on any project or work within a year of their ending contract, in case the employee had access to sensitive information related to the employer.

Heat Protection

• Qatar offers scorching heat to its people during summertime, and looking at the safety of its visitors, they have introduced some reforms for its workers. The government increased the permitted outdoor working hours from 1 June to 15 September on May 26. Any kind of work is strictly not allowed between 10:00 to 15:30.
• Following this ministerial decree, the government has extended summer working regulations by six weeks. To aid protection workers from heat stress, they have conveyed that workers must have access to heat stress training and access to personal protection equipment with annual health checks.

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Cancelling of exit permissions 

• Another new Qatar labour reform law includes cancelling exit permissions. On 16 January 2020, this decision was taken, which removed all exit permits for expatriates who are not subject to Qatar's Labour Law. 
• This new law enables all migrant workers in Qatar, including domestic workers, to leave the country without obtaining any kind of permission from their respective employers. This does not include military personnel. 
• The government has communicated that a domestic worker must notify their employers at least 72 hours before their departure in order to ensure the preservation of both employer and domestic worker rights.
• Because of the significance of their work, employers now have the right to submit previous requests with justifications to the Ministry of Interior, along with the names of the individuals they believe require prior approval before leaving the country.
•  This can be submitted provided it does not exceed 5% of employees. 

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Conclusion

So here it was, Qatar's new labour reforms laws which were introduced in recent years. Make sure to note this is not the complete list of labour reform laws which Qatar provides. Hence it is advisable to make a visit to the official government site to check all the labour reform laws.  

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