Qatar’s Ministry of Interior has issued new rules aimed at eliminating the practice of employing absconding workers as well as lending workers illegally in the country.

Under the new regulations, which come into effect on 1 May, companies and individuals that employ illegal workers in Qatar will be blacklisted and banned from recruiting new employees for two years.

Businesses that allow their sponsored employees to illegally work for other companies also will face a recruitment ban for one year.

Penalties for companies that hire a worker not under their sponsorship include jail time of up to three years and/or a fine of up to QR50,000 ($13,700).

Repeat offenders will be subject to a mandatory jail sentence of at least 15 days, as well as a minimum QR20,000 fine, up to QR100,000,

The ministry made clear that the new laws do not ban the practice of lending employees, but rather the lending of illegal workers only.

The stricter regulations were needed because too many companies were violating the current law, said Brigadier Nasser Mohamed Eissa Al-Sayed, director of the ministry’s search and follow up department, which is responsible for regulating illegal workers.