Shura Council hears views on Labour Regulation amendments

By Last updated Jan 5, 2021

The Shura Council held its regular weekly meeting on Monday under the chairmanship of SE Council Chairman Ahmed bin Abdullah bin Zaid Al Mahmoud.

At the invitation of SE, the spokesman for the Council, the Minister for Administrative Development, Labor and Social Affairs, Yousuf bin Mohamed Al Othman Fakhroo, attended the meeting to review the articles in Legislative Decree No. 18 of 2020 amending some provisions of the Labor Code Explain promulgation by Law No. 14 of 2004 and outline the Ministry’s position on what was set out in the request for general debate tabled by a number of Council members on changing employers and traveling without notice for foreign workers.

The Shura Council Speaker welcomed the Minister for Administrative Development, Labor and Social Affairs and thanked him for accepting the invitation and attending this meeting. He invited him to speak with the members of the council, hear their views and answer their questions and inquiries.

At the beginning of the meeting, HE Al Mahmoud, on his own behalf and on behalf of the members of the Council, expressed his sincere thanks and appreciation to HH the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani for his interest in developing and updating laws from more consistent with what the country is experiencing in terms of development and growth and is able to attract investment and create a legislative environment that helps encourage investment and supports the vital role of the private sector.

The Minister of Administrative Development, Labor and Social Affairs started the discussions, explaining that the Ministry is currently trying to develop modern and dynamic and improved legislation based on the National Vision 2030 of Qatar and as part of the implementation of the National Strategy Projects for the Labor Market the economic level of the state to attract foreign investment and compete in global markets, to achieve a balance in the demographics of the state of Qatar in terms of the quality and size of the resident population, to reduce the number of unskilled and illegal workers; Rotate and retain skilled workers while achieving legal guarantees for all parties that are compatible with international standards.

The minister said the changes had been sped up to help address the novel coronavirus crisis and its economic impact, as well as the difficulty of returning workers to their countries, as the state and labor-sending countries took measures to stop the spread of The disease added that the situation did not allow workers to leave Qatar, which had a negative impact on the conditions of businesses and workers.

He added that the change included the introduction of the benefits of free movement of workers in the state of Qatar on the spot after specific inspections and that the above changes represented the necessary balance and fairness between the two parties to the employment contract, represented by the employer and the employer ensure workers, as both parties are free to terminate the contract with the obligation to compensate the other party and with the employer’s right to require the worker to have a non-compete clause as a contract clause and the worker must comply with this clause for a full year and it is forbidden to work for a competitor in the same economic sector for the employer, in addition to the possibility of adding other conditions and clauses to be included in an annex to the standard employment contract in order to increase the employer’s right to E. to maintain compensation for the costs incurred in hiring and training the employee, as well as for all other costs.

The Minister of Administrative Development, Labor and Social Affairs added that the new changes included the establishment of rules and procedures by the Department of Administrative Development, Labor and Social Affairs in general to set the mechanism and controls for the transfer and to decide on approval of requests submitted, which will be considered to allow flexibility in developing these procedures while respecting the rights of all parties.

He reiterated the Ministry’s willingness to follow up employers’ observations on these practices in order to develop them in a way that safeguards the rights of all parties.

HE Yousuf bin Mohamed Al Othman Fakhroo expressed the desire of the Ministry to cooperate more with the Shura Council by receiving its constructive views and suggestions and taking them into account in developing procedures and changes that will achieve the common goal, more in the future to achieve economic prosperity for the state. and support the safeguarding of the rights of all parties in the labor market.

In response to questions and requests from members of the Council, His Excellency stated that the elimination of illegal workers was at the forefront of the Ministry’s priorities and that there were radical solutions to this matter, and announced that a study was ongoing to classify companies .

He also clarified that the aforementioned Legislative Decree No. 18 of 2020 amending some provisions of the Labor Code, enacted by Law No. 14 of 2004, does not deal with domestic workers.

He stressed that the transfer of sponsorship includes rules, controls and procedures that safeguard the rights of all parties, and that the number of workers who have requested a transfer is small and those whose requests have been approved are fewer than the worker to give the opportunity to apply for a change of employer. However, this request must be approved or denied after communicating with the parties concerned. He pointed out that there is a platform for the transfer of workers in coordination with the Qatar Chamber.

Discussions during the meeting focused on the new measures taken by the Ministry of Administrative Development, Labor and Social Affairs in relation to the transfer of the worker to a new employer. They included the time limit set for the non-compete for the transfer of the employee, as well as the compensation of the employer for his costs of providing the employee and the proportionality of the compensation to what the employer received in terms of material losses as a result of the failure of either party, to comply with the provisions of the termination of the contract without observing the notice periods. The discussions centered around the issue of illegal work and the need to attract skilled workers.

After the broad and fruitful discussions, SE, the spokesman for the Shura Council, thanked the Minister for Administrative Development, Labor and Social Affairs for clarifying and answering the questions and inquiries of the members. He also thanked the esteemed government for their response and for taking measures and controls regarding the movement of expatriate workers.

For his part, the Minister praised the suggestions and comments made by members of the Shura Council and stressed that they would be taken into account.

At the end of the meeting, SE, the Shura Council spokesman, instructed the Joint Committee of the Committee on Services and Public Utilities and the Committee on Home and External Affairs to issue its report on Legislative Decree No. 18 of 2020 amending some provisions of the employment relationship To be completed The law, enacted by Law No. 14 of 2004, which refers to the request of a number of members of the Council for public debate, related to the transfer of the employer and travel without notice for the workers living abroad In view of the clarifications made by HE Minister of Administrative Development, Labor and Social Affairs and the related discussions with him during the related meeting, in order to present his report to the Council in order to prepare the forwarding of his recommendations to the distinguished government.

Source: QNA, Shura Council of Qatar