Qatar is a small but immensely wealthy country and, at present, employment opportunities are wide-ranging and appealing. It continues to enjoy strong economic growth, partly due to extensive government spending and ongoing projects in preparation for the 2022 football World Cup. Many expatriate workers are attracted to the tax-free salary and benefits on offer – a lot are engaged in infrastructure projects to support the football tournament. The population continues to rise rapidly, primarily due to the influx of foreigners seeking jobs.

But what is life like for expatriates working in Qatar? Are they protected by sophisticated employment legislation or is the emphasis on contractual provisions? What rights do they have, particularly if they are employed in the private sector?

The main source of employment law in Qatar is Law 14, passed in 2004 and also known as the Labour Law. The government body responsible for upholding the Labour Law is the Ministry of Labour & Social Affairs. This summary of employment law in Qatar is based on an unofficial translation into English of the relevant laws from Arabic. The Arabic version is binding and the English translation can be unreliable. Employment legislation governing employees who work for entities in the Qatar Financial Centre, which has its own employment rules and regulations, have not been mentioned here.

Many expatriate workers are attracted to the tax-free salary and benefits on offer

Andrew Wingfield, Simmons & Simmons

The Labour Law is a mandatory provision of Qatari law. An employment contract between an employer and employee will be binding, except to any extent that it contains a provision contrary to public order or morals (as interpreted in Qatar), or contains a provision that is contrary to the Labour Law. In other words, it cannot be avoided or side-stepped, no matter how hard some employers may try.

The majority of the workforce comprises foreign workers. However, the Qatar government is striving to ensure that nationals are employed not only in the public sector, but also in many of the private companies established in the country. According to the law, nationals take precedence over expatriates in any employment opportunity. Many expatriates work in low-paying construction jobs, but a large number of highly paid professionals are engaged in the private sector too.

There are many positive elements of the Labour Law. It protects employees to a large extent and is user-friendly. The Labour Law imposes minimum standards governing employment relationships. No stipulation contradicting this law is permitted unless the stipulation is more advantageous to the worker. The low-paid construction worker is, in theory, treated in the same manner as a highly paid lawyer. Below are some key provisions applicable to the legislation.

Standard-form employment contract

An employment contract between an expatriate employee and his/her employer must be approved by the Department of Employment within the Ministry of Labour & Social Affairs. The department has issued a standard-form employment contract and has indicated that an employment contract that substantially differs from this will not be approved. However, in practice, private sector companies tend to derive from the standard-form contract by adding additional provisions. The Ministry of Labour & Social Affairs tends to exercise its sole discretion for approving such additional provisions.

Work permits

All expatriate employees require a work permit issued by the Ministry of Labour & Social Affairs, in addition to a work visa issued by the Ministry of Interior Immigration Department. Expatiate employees must be sponsored by their employer. Generally, an employer will assist in obtaining a work permit, which is valid for one to five years. Normally, the work permit requires that the expatriate employee submits his/her educational certificate, and a police clearance issued by the relevant authorities in addition to the local employment contract.

Qatarisation

Priority in employment must be given to nationals. Foreigners may be employed only if necessary. The Department of Employment is aware of all vacancies and of nationals who are available to fill them.

Minimum wage

There is no prescribed minimum wage under Qatari law.

Working hours

The maximum number of working hours permitted in a week is 48, or eight hours a day. During Ramadan, working hours are reduced to 36 hours a week, or six hours a day. The time spent on transport between residence and work is not calculated. There are a number of exceptions to the rule, such as employees working as security guards and janitors, who may work longer hours each week. The Labour Law also contains basic provisions for overtime pay.

Proposed reforms to the Labour Law and the Immigration Law were announced in May 2014

The working day must include one or more intervals for prayers, meals and rest, which must not be less than one hour and no more than three hours a day. An employee must not work continually for more than five hours without rest. Employees are entitled to a weekly paid holiday of not less than 24 hours. Friday is the normal weekly holiday for all employees, except those working in shifts.

Vacation and sick leave

The Labour Law provides that employees who complete one year of service with an employer will be entitled to paid annual leave. That leave will not be less than three weeks a year for employees who have worked less than five years, and four weeks a year for those who have worked more than five years. There are special provisions regarding Muslim employees, who are entitled to a special leave of 20 days without pay, once, to perform the Hajj pilgrimage. An employee is entitled to the following holidays every year with full salary:

• Three days for Eid al-Fitr (Lunar-based)
• Three days for Eid al-Adha (Lunar-based)
• One day for Qatar Independence Day (18 December)
• Three more days of casual leave decided upon by the employer.

An employee is entitled to sick leave with pay (but only upon completion of three months of service) after submitting a medical certificate signed by a physician and accepted by the employer.

The employee is entitled to full payment for sick leave not exceeding two weeks. If it extends beyond two weeks, the employee will receive half his/her salary for the next four weeks. Leave exceeding this period will be without pay until work is resumed or if the employee resigns or his/her employment is terminated.

An employee’s service can be terminated upon completion of the twelfth week of sick leave, if a medical report issued by a physician proves the employee is unfit to perform his/her duties.

Unions

The Labour Law permits workers’ committees. However, these are restricted to establishments where there are at least 100 national workers, and only these workers may join workers’ committees. There are no specific laws relating to collective dismissals, strikes or lockouts.

Health and safety

The Labour Law sets out a number of mandatory obligations in respect to health and safety, some of which are detailed below:

• An employer must notify every worker at the beginning of his/her employment about the work-related risks involved with the job, acquaint them with safety measures and post in a prominent place the steps to ensure vocational health and safety from hazards at work.
• An employer must take necessary precautionary measures to protect workers while at work from any injury or disease that could occur from work done in the establishment, or any incidents, defaults or failures in machines and equipment, or fire.
• An employer must take measures to ensure sanitation and ventilation in all workplaces and should provide employees with adequate lighting, clean drinking water and drainage systems.
• An employer who appoints between five and 25 workers must keep a first aid box with medicine and equipment. If the number of workers exceeds 100, the employer must appoint a full-time male nurse in addition to providing the required number of first aid boxes.
• If the number of employees exceeds 500, the employer must establish a clinic, manned by at least one medical practitioner and a male nurse. An employer must provide a health card for each employee.

Compensation

While no specific insurances, such as employee compensation, are required to be maintained by an employer, the Labour Law provides for disability and death. Some of the relevant provisions are:

• An employee who sustains a work injury is entitled to receive medical treatment appropriate to the condition at the cost of the employer.
• The employee will receive full wages during the treatment period or a period of six months, whichever is the greater. If the treatment continues for more than six months, the worker shall be paid half wage until recovery or proof of permanent disability or death, whichever is the shorter period.
• The heirs of an employee who dies because of work, or an employee who sustains a work injury resulting in a partial or total permanent disability, will be entitled to compensation. The amount of compensation will be calculated in accordance with the provisions of sharia.

The Social Health Insurance System Law No 7 of 2013 is complemented by Executive Regulation No 22 of 2013, issued by the minister of health. Although the full details are not yet in place, the framework has been set. The main points that need to be highlighted are:

• The health insurance system will be compulsory for the provision of essential health services
• Employers and sponsors must enrol their employees and family members in the health insurance system and are responsible for paying those premiums
• In order to issue or renew residency permits, all employees and their dependants must be enrolled in the health insurance system
• Employers and sponsors may offer additional health services and private health insurance in addition to the compulsory insurance
• The premium for every category will be set by the Supreme Committee of Health
• The government will cover the premium for Qataris
• Visitors will not be able to enter the country or extend their visas without paying the premium
• The National Health Insurance Company is responsible for implementing and administering the health insurance system
• Qatari females and children are currently covered by the system, which will continue to be rolled out in stages until it is fully operational in 2015.

Pensions

A new pensions law came into force in 2002, known as Law 24, or the Pensions Law. This only applies to national employees governed by the Civil Service Law and to nationals employed at public authorities, public establishments and joint-stock companies.

The employer must make a contribution of 10 per cent of the eligible Qatari’s salary to the General Authority for Retirement and Pensions. There are no comparative provisions in the private sector and no mandatory pension provisions for expatriate employees. Expatriate employees are instead entitled to end-of-service benefits.

End-of-service benefits

End-of-service benefits are granted to all employees, unless an employee has had his contract terminated for default, and are set out in the Labour Law. In addition to any other contractual amounts due to an employee, an employer must pay end-of-service benefits in cases where an employee has worked for one year or more. The end-of-service entitlement can be set out in the contract of employment, but must not be lower than three weeks’ salary for every complete year worked by an employee and a pro-rata sum for any number of months for which the employee has worked after completing one year.

The last basic salary drawn will be taken as the yardstick for calculating the end-of-service payment. Many employers do not like this provision in the Labour Law, but it is mandatory and any attempt to side-step or avoid this benefit will be unenforceable.

Termination of employment

An employer may terminate an employee’s service without notice and without end-of-service benefits if the worker’s behaviour leads to termination. For example, if the employee:

• Assumes a false identity or nationality or submits false certificates or documents
• Discloses the secrets of the establishment where he/she is employed
• Is found during working hours in a state of drunkenness or under the influence of drugs
• Is sentenced for a crime involving immorality or dishonesty.
• An employee may terminate his/her service contract and retain full rights to end-of-service benefits in the following cases:
• If the employer commits a breach of its obligations under the service contract or the provisions of the Labour Law
• If the employer or another responsible manager commits a physical assault or immoral act upon an employee and their family members
• If the employer or his/her representative misleads the employee when entering into the contract as to the terms and conditions
• If continuance with work endangers the health and safety of the employee, provided that the employer is aware of the danger and does not take the necessary steps to remove it.

Termination for convenience

The Labour Law provides that if a service contract is of an indefinite duration (without a specific notice period), either of the two parties may terminate it without giving reasons for the termination.

With employees who receive their wages annually or monthly, the notice given must not be less than one month if the period of service is five years or less. If the period of service is more than five years, the notice given must be at least two months.

In all other cases, notice must be given in accordance with the following periods:

• If the service period is less than a year, notice shall be at least a week
• If the period of service is more than a year and less than five years, the notice shall be at least two weeks
• If the service period is more than five years, the notice shall be at least a month.

Mobility of employment

Qatar continues to enforce the requirement for a non-objection certificate (NOC), a document issued by an employer that allows an employee to change jobs. If you are an expatriate employee and have found a new job, you are unable to move on without an NOC from your current employer. If an employer wants to give the NOC voluntarily, it can do so. If an employer refuses to grant an NOC, the employee can make a claim before the Ministry of Interior Human Rights Department, which on certain occasions has issued decisions obliging employers to grant NOCs to the employees.

Qatari females and children are currently covered by the health insurance system

Without an NOC, an employee can end up working in a job that becomes untenable. The employee wants to leave, but the employer will not grant an NOC. In those circumstances, the employee has a choice: to stay in the job or leave the country, normally within two weeks of the end of employment. The employee cannot return to Qatar (other than on a visitor visa) and obtain employment for at least two years. In some cases where an NOC is refused and the employee has worked for a government entity, the period of exclusion can be four years. Without a sponsor and a work permit, both of which are controlled by the employer, the employee may just lose that employment opportunity.

The Ministry of Labour & Social Affairs and the Ministry of Interior announced proposed reforms to the Labour Law and the Immigration Law in May 2014. The highlights of these changes were put to the public, and the amendments are expected to be published this year. The changes deal with the cancellation of the sponsorship system and its replacement with an employment-based system, whereby the employment agreement is the basis for controlling the employment relationship. A change to the exit permit system is expected, in addition to the requirement for an NOC to be able to transfer employment.