Warning to firms over pay delays

The Ministry of Labour (MoL) is committed to taking action against companies that do not honour obligations towards their workers, especially regarding delayed payment of salaries, a senior official has said.

“We first approach the offending companies in a cordial way, but if they fail to make amends, we blacklist them until the situation is resolved,” stated Hussein al-Mulla, undersecretary, Labour and Social Affairs Ministry.

Around 90% of the workers’ cases in local courts are mainly concerned with delayed payment of salaries by companies or about not honouring their obligations towards workers, he told local Arabic daily Arrayah.

Problems surrounding salaries have always been at the forefront of workers’ grievances in Qatar, though the authorities concerned are more vigilant of late, sources pointed out.

“The Ministry of Labour usually interferes to resolve such issues and force companies to honour their obligations towards their workers, in particular timely payment of salaries,” al-Mulla told Arrayah.

Most of the minor grievances arise from the Industrial Area, given the large concentration of workers’ based there.

However, the Ministry of Labour has no control on determining the amount of salary a worker gets in any category.

Al-Mulla said that employment contracts were the measure in this respect.

“None of the GCC countries interferes in determining the salaries of workers,” he pointed out.

“I think that when proper accommodation and food are provided to labourers, they are satisfied,” he stressed.

The official said that Ministry of Labour representative offices at courts had the task of speeding up the process of litigation in workers’ cases.

“The Ministry of Labour inspectors make special efforts to ensure that all work locations abide by the standard safety and security procedures to maintain the wellbeing of personnel at work.

“The Ministry also interacts regularly with the foreign ministries of various countries through their labour attaches.”

Al-Mulla  urged young Qataris to pursue higher education and not to stop after high school graduation.

“There is a big demand from locals for administrative jobs in the government sector. But the future is for engineering and other technical jobs,” he added.

QR806,000 compensation for crash victim

A court has ordered a Qatari motorist and an insurance company to jointly pay a compensation of QR806,000 to a Nepalese labourer who was severely injured in a road accident, local Arabic daily Arrayah has reported.

The motorist was accused of committing a driving error “that was the result of recklessness and lack of caution”, according to the report.

Lawyer Jaznan al-Hajiri said the Public Prosecution accused the Qatari driver of changing the direction of his car “in such a manner that it posed a danger to himself and other road users”.

According to the lawyer, the man was driving in the middle lane while heading towards the Ras Abu Aboud signal from the Customs Roundabout. He suddenly switched to the left lane and hit another car which was travelling on the proper track. As a result, his car swerved towards the median and knocked down a pedestrian who fell on the other side of the road before being hit by another vehicle, according to the report.

The victim suffered several injuries in the accident which left him disabled.