Fresh job contracts for expats under new law.

All expatriate workers will be given fresh job contracts by their employers after the new law regulating entry, exit and residency of foreigners in Qatar comes into force by 2016-end.

The period after which an expatriate worker will be allowed to change job by the new law will be counted from the date he has signed the fresh employment contract.

In other words, the period will be counted only after the new law has come into force as it does not apply to existing job contracts.

Once the new legislation takes effect after a year from the date of its publication in the official gazette, an expatriate worker will be allowed to change job after five years if his job contract is open-ended, with approval from the Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs.

No-objection certificate (NOC) from the expatriate worker's current employer will not be needed at all.

And if the job contract of an expatriate is for a fixed duration, he could change employment at the end of the duration.

In this case also NOC will not be required from the employer but approval will be needed from both ministries, said Yusuf Al Zaman, a famous lawyer.

Asked how soon the worker could change job, Al Zaman replied: “Immediately as the employment period ends, in both the above cases.”

Therefore, all expatriate workers will need to sign fresh employment agreements with their employers once the new law takes effect.

Citing an example, he said: “Let us say an expatriate who has been based here for many years has signed a fresh job contract for five years after the new legislation is put into force, so he will be allowed to change job only after five years, not before that.”

Asked as to when an NOC will be required from the employer of an expatriate if he wishes to change job, the lawyer said: "Only when his contract is still valid and he wishes to change job will he be needing an NOC".

The difference between the new and the existing laws is that the employer is not the sponsor of an expatriate worker. He is an employer. And the relationship between him (the employer) and his foreign employee will be based entirely on the job contract they mutually agree and sign.

Al Zaman, clarifying why both ministries' approval will be needed for job change by an expatriate employee, said it is only an administrative issue.

"It is just because the government would like to take note of job change of a resident. It will just be a formality. It will be for registration purposes only."

The employer and his employee will be free to include whatever conditions they would like to have in the employment contract.

There will be some basic conditions like salary, allowances and privileges a worker is entitled to as per the labour law of Qatar and other conditions can be included in the contract.

On exit permit, the lawyer said the current system will continue after the new law is implemented.

For example, expatriates will still require exit permit from their employers and it will be issued like it is done now.

However, in case of refusal or delay being made by an employer in issuing exit permit to an employee, the latter could approach the Grievance Committee at the Ministry of Interior.

The committee will decide the matter in three days. An employer will also have the right to explain his position on the matter in front of the committee and why he is not issuing exit permit to a particular employee.

Al Zaman said the new law will stop the practice of some sponsors putting pictures in newspapers of their expatriate employees if they are going on annual leave or leaving Qatar for good.

This practice is allowed under the current sponsorship law, so when the sponsorship system ends, there wouldn't be any need for it. "As I said, the job contract will decide the relationship between an employer and his employee," the lawyer reiterated.

In the present system, an expatriate worker's sponsor is responsible for many things related to the worker. But in the new system that wouldn't be the case.

The sponsor is now responsible for his worker's bank and other loans, for example. That wouldn't be the case anymore in the new system.

Article 7 of the law talks of setting up a Grievance Committee at the Ministry of Interior.

"If an employer doesn’t want an employee to travel out of Qatar for some genuine reasons, he could approach the committee and explain his position," said Al Zaman.

One good thing in the new law is that earlier an expatriate could come back to Qatar after two years to take up another job after quitting his present employment or after being removed from job, that condition will end.

Once the new law is in force, an expatriate worker can return to Qatar immediately after quitting his job (or after being removed) and travelling overseas if he lands another job.

The only condition is that the Ministry of Interior will have to approve his arrival. "His employer (the one offering him a job) will apply to the ministry for approval," said the lawyer. [The Peninsula]

[Cover Image: Juandc]