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Tribune News Network
Doha
The latest amendments to the labour law in Qatar protect the interests of the employers and safeguard the rights of the employees, Muhammad Hassan Al Obaidly, the Assistant Undersecretary for Labour Affairs at the Ministry of Administrative Development, Labour and Social Affairs, has said.
While the latest amendments scrapped a rule requiring employers’ consent to change jobs, it has also restricted employees’ freedom to change jobs with certain controls.
The employer has the right to object in the event a worker moves to a competing company, Obaidly said.
The employer has the right to demand any fees he or she incurred to train the worker, such as fees for obtaining a driver’s licence, he said, emphasing that the employer need to mention these aspects in the employment contract to guarantee his or her right.
Obaidly said the current law protects the rights of the employer, as the employer has become entitled to terminate the fixed-term contract without requiring him to pay the workers’ dues for the remaining period, whereas in the previous law the employer was obligated to pay the remaining period of the work contract.
Among the matters that have been amended is that if the worker violates the work contract, he leaves the country and will not be entitled to return until one year after his departure.
Regarding the controls for accepting and rejecting the worker’s transfer request, Obaidly explained that there was confusion with regard to the text messages issued by the ministry when the worker submits a transfer request, indicating that these messages do not mean approval, but rather that the request is under consideration and may be accepted or rejected.
He indicated that the current employer has the right to inquire about the worker’s transfer request if he has comments or inquiries, and the new company must have a labour visa of the same nationality as the worker, and the new company must be an existing one and not fake and have projects and commercial businesses.
In the event that the application is submitted, the worker must enclose the resignation he submitted to the employer, with the necessity of the worker committing to a notice period of two months if he worked for the employer for more than two years or one month if he worked for him for less than two years.
Doha
The latest amendments to the labour law in Qatar protect the interests of the employers and safeguard the rights of the employees, Muhammad Hassan Al Obaidly, the Assistant Undersecretary for Labour Affairs at the Ministry of Administrative Development, Labour and Social Affairs, has said.
While the latest amendments scrapped a rule requiring employers’ consent to change jobs, it has also restricted employees’ freedom to change jobs with certain controls.
The employer has the right to object in the event a worker moves to a competing company, Obaidly said.
The employer has the right to demand any fees he or she incurred to train the worker, such as fees for obtaining a driver’s licence, he said, emphasing that the employer need to mention these aspects in the employment contract to guarantee his or her right.
Obaidly said the current law protects the rights of the employer, as the employer has become entitled to terminate the fixed-term contract without requiring him to pay the workers’ dues for the remaining period, whereas in the previous law the employer was obligated to pay the remaining period of the work contract.
Among the matters that have been amended is that if the worker violates the work contract, he leaves the country and will not be entitled to return until one year after his departure.
Regarding the controls for accepting and rejecting the worker’s transfer request, Obaidly explained that there was confusion with regard to the text messages issued by the ministry when the worker submits a transfer request, indicating that these messages do not mean approval, but rather that the request is under consideration and may be accepted or rejected.
He indicated that the current employer has the right to inquire about the worker’s transfer request if he has comments or inquiries, and the new company must have a labour visa of the same nationality as the worker, and the new company must be an existing one and not fake and have projects and commercial businesses.
In the event that the application is submitted, the worker must enclose the resignation he submitted to the employer, with the necessity of the worker committing to a notice period of two months if he worked for the employer for more than two years or one month if he worked for him for less than two years.
