Qatar expected to hike minimum wages of labourers by ‘end of year,’ says experts

Qatar is continuing to push forward with labour reforms that could transform the country into one of the best in the entire Middle East.

Just yesterday, it was reported that the country was finally getting ready to scrap the exit permit system for good within two weeks. 

And now, it is being reported that Qatar could increase the minimum wages for migrant workers by the end of 2018, according to international trade unions, reported the Economic Times.

Last November, Qatar had set a temporary minimum wage of QR750, with the promise of increasing the limit in the future.

“By the end of the year, we expect a new minimum wage to be set. That’s good news,” said Sharan Burrow, General Secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation.

“If these measures are implemented, then Qatar will be a model to the other Gulf states,” she was quoted as saying by Gulf Times.

She said the co-operation between Qatar and the ITUC was excellent, especially after the agreement reached with the ILO late last year.
Burrow, who visited the Qatar Foundation Stadium, a medical centre and an accommodation centre, said she ‘observed good labour practice in the stadium site.’

Speaking to the media at the newly-opened International Labour Organization (ILO) office in Doha, the ITUC chief praised the steps taken by Qatar for improving the work environment and ensuring the rights of workers.

She called the opening of the ILO office in Qatar a ‘historic event.’

“This is one of the major steps in labour reforms in Qatar, and the ITUC offers full support to ILO’s programmes,” she told Qatar Tribune.

According to one of the proposals, a new labour contract registration system linking recruitment agencies and the government will soon be introduced.

“This new contract system will help minimise contract substitutions. A complaint mechanism will also be introduced to sort out the labour issues. Through the new mechanism, workers would be able to approach the labour ministry with their complaints and it’ll be sorted out within three weeks, unless there’re legal disputes involved. Also, the complaints will be kept confidential,” the ITUC official said.