Medical emergencies have a way of sneaking up to us and take us by complete surprise and ruin all our plans, both current as well as future. Although, most of us would take a short leave to handle emergencies, but sometimes the emergencies are so grave that they leave us no choice but to quit the job altogether. And quitting a job in Qatar entails giving a notice period to the employer.
Notice Period:
Many articles of the Qatar Labour Law specifically deal with the issue of notice period and its duration, and the duties of the employees and the employers during such periods. These articles stipulate:
Article (49)
If the service contract is of an indefinite duration any of the two parties thereto may terminate it without giving the reasons for the termination. In this case, the party intending to terminate the contract shall notify the other party in writing as follows:
In respect of the workers who receive their wages annually or monthly, the notification shall be given not less than one month prior to the date of the termination. If the period of service is five years or less. If the period of service is more than five years, the notification period shall be at least two months prior to the date of termination.
In all other cases the notification shall be given in accordance with the following periods:
A) If the period of service is less than one year the notification period shall be at least one week.
B) If the period of service is more than one year and less than five year the notification period shall be at least two weeks.
D) If the service period is more than five years the notification period shall be at least one month.
If the contract is terminated without observing these periods, the party terminating the contract shall be obligated to compensate the other party for an amount equivalent to the wage for the notice period or the remaining part thereof.
Article (50)
The employer shall pay the worker his wage in full for the notice period provided for in the preceding article, if the worker performs his work in the usual manner during the said period.
The employer shall give permission to the Qatari worker to absent himself from work for reasonable times to enable him to register his name in the register of the Department in order that the worker can avail himself of new employment. The worker shall notify the employer of the new employment immediately on obtaining thereof and shall continue with the work thereafter till the expiry of the notification period.
Article (85)
The employer may not terminate the service contract or notify the worker of the termination thereof during any of his periods of leave provided for in this law.
The employer may not notify the worker of the termination of the contract if the notice period expires during any of such periods of leave.
However, in case of sickness (medical emergencies) the law makes it possible for the sick person to quit during the sick leave.
According to Article 82 of the Qatar Labour Law:
The worker shall be entitled to a sick leave with pay for every year of the years of his service. This sick leave shall not be granted unless after three months from the commencement of his engagement for the first time provided that the worker proves his sickness by a certificate from a physician approved by the employer.
The worker shall be paid his full wage if the sick leave does not exceed two weeks. If the sick leave extends thereafter the worker shall be paid half of his wage for other four weeks. The extension of the sick leave thereafter shall be without pay until the worker resumes his work or resigns or his service is terminated for health reasons. The service of the worker may be terminated at the end of the twelfth week of the sick leave if it has been proved by a report’ issued by the competent physician that the worker is unable to resume his work at that time.
If the worker resigns from work because of the sickness and with the approval of the competent physician before the end of the six months to which the worker is entitled as a sick leave with pay, the employer shall pay to the worker the balance of his entitlement. This provision shall also apply in case of death because of sickness before the end of the said six weeks.
The preceding provisions shall not prejudice the right of the worker to the remuneration to which he may be entitled for the period of his service and taking by the worker of the sick leave for the period of twelve weeks shall not be deemed to constitute an interruption of his continuous service.
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