Special team to look into workers’ woes
Wednesday, 15 June 2011 01:55
DOHA: A special team has been set up by the Ministry of Labour to look into workers’ complaints received on its hotline (8006611), and aggrieved workers will now be able to convey their woes for redressal 24 hours a day and seven days a week.
The Ministry says that workers can file complaints on its hotline even during weekends, and a team has been assigned to look into them on a fast-track basis.
The team consists of officials from different departments of the Ministry, prominent among them being the inspection wing that carries out surprise as well as routine raids on private firms to check compliance with the labour law.
All grievances that give exact details are to be treated as confidential and the identity of the complainant is not to be disclosed so as to protect him from being harassed by his employers.
“There is no need for a complainant to appear at the Ministry in person. The hotline, which is installed at the Public Relations Department, is enough to start the preliminary verification process and action,” a source at the Ministry told Al Sharq.
It is interesting to note that the Ministry has allowed its own employees to lodge complaints against their superiors through the hotline.
Department heads against whom complaints are filed must reply within three days of being informed, said the
ministry source.
Encouraged by the novel gesture, several employees of the Ministry have begun reporting their woes against their bosses, the daily said.
Between May 1 and 5 this year, some 82 complaints were received by the Ministry on its hotline and some of them were from the employees of the Ministry itself.
Other grievances related to company workers and a vast majority of them were about non-payment or delayed payments of salaries and denial of terminal benefits like end-of-service payment.
There were some unemployed Qatari citizens who called up the Ministry complaining that they were not getting jobs and urged the Ministry’s intervention.
Between May 8 and 10, the Ministry received 39 complaints on its hotline and again, some complainants were from the Ministry itself, while the others were private sector employees.
There were complaints against some companies about anomalies in job contracts as well.
The ministerial source reiterated in remarks to the daily that all complaints received on the hotline are treated as extremely confidential and action is taken without delay. The Peninsula
http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/qatar/155825-special-team-to-look-into-...
As do I, tinkerbell.
LP..yes I agree they should make the laborers aware of such things...but such news comes in regional radio channels which is a main source of entertainment for the laborers from the sub continent countries.
I hope you are right Tinkerbell, but I worry that with the spotlight they will do everything to give the APPEARANCE of change rather than GENUINE change. And this initiative looks to me like the appearance. The fact that only 82 people called the hotline out of how many mistreated workers, says it all.
FS, if they were serious, they should have an accompanying campaign to inform the laborers. (In different languages and on TV!)
Nic.. you don’t have anything to say about the positive move by the Govt to improve condition of the laborers?
Your sole intention of criticizing the Govt was for them to take some initiative right?
blue_rose--I am sure such news is forbidden amongst the workers. They're rights are routinely violated by the state and their employers. Why would they possibly believe this new effort is truly going to assist them?
now how to inform the workers or labourers about this news? they may not be reading the newspapers.
FS--your are far more optimistic than I am. May God bless you for it.
As the World Cup projects get underway, they will need hundreds of thousands of more workers, and there simply isn't the housing, shopping, leisure facilities, etc. for them, and this is hardly going to be prioritized over building a new stadium. Things will get much worse before they get better.
Results will count. Setting up an office or a hotline doesn't mean anything. They also have an office for Human Rights here, don't they?
At least some kind of action is (seemingly) been taken. However will this new system be devoid of corruption,how much power will the organisation possess to take action, and how fast they act etc will have to be taken into account once the operation is up and running.As of now, taking it as it is,sounds good...Inshallah!
in the next 59 years :-P
FM...there wont be any overnight changes...but slowly the conditions will improve..
Lets hope for the best.
Does anyone seriously really think there will be a substantial change in workers' conditions as a result of this?