The minister said that penalties against violating companies would be raised in the new law, which he said, would be referred to the cabinet before the end of this year.
“We have considered the frequent complaints and violations made under the current law as well as those issues that are not mentioned in it,” Dr al-Dousari was quoted as saying in an interview with a local Arabic daily.
“For example, we have increased fines and measures have been made more stringent against companies which fail to comply with the labour rules.
“We have suggested new articles to be included in the draft law. The proposed changes are mainly based on studies and the reality of the labour market. We work for the benefits of both employers and
employees,” the minister said.
The current labour law was issued in 2004.
The minister also revealed that new regulations for recruitment would be announced soon, saying that several government bodies including the ministries of economy, interior, and the General Secretariat for Development Planning were reviewing the current rules.
“According to the new rules, a company which has a two-year long construction project will be given work visas for two years and after that they will be asked either to find another project or send the workers to their home countries,” he added.
Asked about the domestic helpers, he said they would be included in the ambit of the law, saying it was currently subject to some sort of legislative procedures after having been approved by both the cabinet and advisory council.
He also said that some 40 companies had been totally banned from undertaking work for employing absconding workers.
To a question on the number of checks made by the Inspection Department, he said labour inspectors conduct some 1,000 surprise and regular checks every month since the beginning of 2009.
He said 4,000 complaints had been received by his ministry until last September. “Of them 2,000 were solved, and 360 referred to the court, while the others were closed either because they were “incorrect or the disputing parties came to terms”.
On companies which might have internal regulations that are not mentioned in the labour law, the official said such regulations might be accepted only if they were in the interest of the employees, and the clauses of the Labour Law should prevail if they were not.
“There is an article in the law stipulating that the labour rights mentioned in the law are the basic rights and that any contract conditions violating it are invalid and cannot be taken as reference,” he added.
About the recently increased minimum salary for expatriates who would like to bring in their families, the minister said the salary was increased to QR7,000 from QR4,500 in view of the “then soaring rental rates”.
About the Ministry of Labour’s efforts to enhance Qatarisation, he said unemployment rates among Qatari youths have declined to 0.5%, which he said was the lowest in the world. He added that his ministry managed to employ Qataris in some 95% of the non-specialised jobs in the public sector.
