Authorities in Qatar abolished the much-abused Kafala system in December of last year and in its place a new labour law was introduced with the aim of safeguarding the rights of expat workers in the country. The abolishment of Kafala has been welcomed by most people and dubbed by many experts as the beginning of the reformation process. 

In order to create awareness among lesser educated workers about the new labour law, the Ministry of Administrative Development, Labour and Social Affairs (MADLSA), in collaboration with the Ministry of Communications and Transport has installed kiosks at many labour camps with a motive to educate the workers about their rights as specified by the new labour law.

Regardless of how strict a law is or how many protections are enshrined in the law for the workers, there always will be that minority of exploitative employers who take undue advantage of the circumstances their employees are in. Such exploitative employers nonchalantly withhold wages of the workers, pay only half of what they rightfully deserve and some even go to the extent of torturing their workers. This minority of exploitative employers end up bringing an entire country into disrepute. To address problems such as these a robust redressal mechanism has to be in place, through which the aggrieved workers/employees can bring their unfortunate plight into the notice of the authorities without having to fear any repercussions from their employers. 

The Ministry of Administrative Development, Labour and Social Affairs is striving to put exactly such a system in place here in Qatar. MADLSA has urged the expat workers to report any violation or abuse of their rights, which are guaranteed by the Labour Law, the Labour Relations Department at the Ministry of Administrative Development, Labour and Social Affairs has launched an awareness campaign targeting workers. The objective of the campaign is to raise the awareness among workers about their rights and duties under the law. 

Job related complaints can be lodged by the workers either online or by personally visiting the Ministry headquarters or its Industrial Area branch. 

Workers wishing to file a complaint are required to fill in a special from for complaints, sign it, attach a copy of their ID and submit it to the employee concerned at the Ministry’s office, who will verify whether the complaint falls within the jurisdiction of the Ministry or not.  

For complaints that are lodged online, the Labour Relations Department sends out an SMS to the company representative, against whom the complaint has been launched, asking him/her to visit the Ministry, a copy of the request is also forwarded to the complainant. 

For the amicable resolution of the problems, the complaints are discussed in the presence of the both parties (employee and employer). If no breakthrough is achieved, the matter is then referred to further investigations or transferred to a competent court for settlement. 

The Ministry has also installed 11 self-service machines that operate in 11 languages, which the workers can use to lodge complaints against their employers. The Ministry is planning to increase the number of such machines to 100 and most of them will be installed inside labour camps. 

The Hukoomi portal of Qatari Govt. has a dedicated page to deal with labour complaints, it says, “Qatari Labor Law guarantees rights and payments of labor from different nationalities. Workers who are working in different companies and institutions inside Qatar can submit labor complain to Work Relations Department at the Ministry of Administrative Development, Labor and Social Affairs (MADLSA) in case of any dispute between workers and their employer”. 

To lodge a complaint against an employer the aggrieved worker must fill an application form, which can be downloaded from here, and then submit the completed form to the Labour Relations Department at MADLSA.

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