30012011 YOU AND THE LAW (QATAR)

~ QATAR – Answered as per Qatar Law

Shall the employee have the right to submit the resignation during the leave?

Qatari Labour Law No. 14/2004, concerning the termination of employment contract states that:

If the employment contract is for unlimited period, the parties thereto have the right to terminate it without any reasons. In such a case, the party which wants to terminate the contract shall notify the other party in writing as follows:

For labourers who are paid their wages annually or monthly, the notification shall be given before at least one month if the service period is five years or less. If the service is more than five years, the notice period shall be at least two months.

If the contract has been terminated without compliance with these periods, the party who terminates the contract shall pay to the other party a compensation equal to the labourer’s wage of notice period or the remaining part.

The resignation of the employee is considered as a termination of the contract by their side due to leaving the work. The Law states that:

The employee is considered as they are on duty during spending any leave provided for in Labour Law. The Law has restricted the right of the employer in terminating the employment contract during the leave period of the employee. It states that the employer shall not have the right to terminate the employment contract or notify the employee of terminating it during any of the latter’s leave provided for in this Law. The employer may not notify the employee of terminating the contract if the notice period ends during any leave”.

The law did not restrict the employee’s right to leave the work. Therefore, the employee may present their resignation during the leave period provided for in the law without prejudice to their entitlements during maximum period of seven days from the date of leaving the work due to the resignation.

A worker joined a company and the latter did not complete the procedures required for residence. After five months, police found out that he has no residence. Therefore, he is asking if the worker can be legally accountable for getting no residence.

Law No. 4/2004, concerning the regulation of entry, exit, residence and sponsorship of expatriates, states that the sponsor and the expatriate shall refer the competent authorities within seven days from the expatriate’s entry to the State in order to complete the residence permit or work visit visa.

Each expatriate entering for residence in the State shall obtain a permit and the sponsor shall complete residence procedures and renew it, provided that renewal shall be done within a maximum ninety days of its expiry.

The sponsor shall submit to the sponsored party the latter’s passport after the completion of residence procedures or renewal.

Any one violating this will be penalized by a fine of maximum 10,000 riyals

What are the cases when a worker can be dismissed without a prior notice and an end-of-work compensation?

According to Article 61 of Labour Law No. 14/2004, employers can dismiss workers without giving them a prior notice or an end-of-work reward in the following cases:

1. If workers turned out to have presented fabricated documents.

2. If workers commit mistakes that cost their employers a huge amount of money, but this makes it necessary for employers to file a report about the accident immediately

3. If workers act in ways that endanger their co-workers

4. If workers do not do the jobs stated in their work contract

5. If workers reveal the secrets of their employers

6. If workers are caught drunk or on drugs

7. If workers assault their employers or managers

8. If workers assault their colleagues

9. If workers absent themselves for seven successive days or 15 separate days without a logical reason

10. If workers are indicted in crimes that damage their reputation

What is the leave that the employees of the private sector are entitled to? Can the leave be postponed or can employees get cash instead of availing the leave? Can the company terminate the employee’s services during their period of leave?

The employee may not waive their right to the annual leave, otherwise any agreement shall be considered null and void. The employee shall have the right to get a cash compensation for the entitled leave if the employment contract ends for any reasons before consuming the leave.

Employee shall have the right to spend a paid sick leave for each year of his service. This leave shall be granted only after three months of joining date and according to a report from a doctor approved by the employer. The employee shall be paid full salary if the sick leave period does not exceed two weeks. If it is more than that, the employee shall be paid half of the salary for another four weeks. Any extension to the leave after that shall be without payment until the employee resumes the work, resigns or their services is ended for health reasons. If the employee resigns due to sickness and with approval of the doctor before the end of the six weeks which the employee is entitled to as a paid sick leave, the employer shall pay them the remaining accruals. This applies also to death due to disease before the end of the six weeks. The employee’s consumption of the twelve weeks period of the sick leave shall not be considered as a suspension of his continuous service and the Muslim employees shall be entitled to Hajj leave one time during their service and the employee may not work with any other employer during the leave period.

The employer may not terminate the employment contract or notify the employee of terminating the contract during any of the abovementioned leaves as per Labour Law No. 14/2004. The employer may not notify the employee of terminating the contract if the notification period ends during any of the said leaves.

Labour Law No. 14/2004, concerning the annual leave states that the employee who spent a full year with the employer shall be entitled to a paid annual leave of at least three weeks for the employees who spent less than five years in service and four weeks for the employees who spent five years or more in service. The employer decides the date of the employee’s annual leave according to the work requirements and the employer may, by the employee’s consent, divide the leave, provided that the leave should not be more than two periods. The employer, upon a written request from the employee, may defer maximum half of the annual leave duration to the next year.

Labour Law No. 14/2004, concerning the employer’s disciplinary authority states that the employer who employs ten workers or more shall have a penalties regulation including violations and punitive procedures against perpetrators as well as conditions and terms thereof. In order to legalize the penalties regulation and its amendments, it shall be approved by the manager within one month of its submission to the management. If such a period elapses without any objection, the regulation is considered as approved and the employer shall show the regulation at the work site to be viewed by the employees. The regulation shall be considered effective only after fifteen days of announcement.

An Asian female employee says that she was working with a private company and her services were terminated, and her sponsor requested her to find another sponsor to transfer her sponsorship and he refused to renew her residence visa. After a long time, she found a new job and she went to the company to ask for signing the sponsorship transfer papers, but she was surprised that the sponsor has filed an escape report against her and he submitted her passport to the Detection and Follow up Department. She wants to know if she can leave the country without facing any trouble, especially since she has to settle a car loan to the bank.

The employee should ask the sponsor, who reported her escape, to give her a letter to submit it to the detection and follow up department and pay an amount of six thousand riyals as a fine to get her passport and prevent deportation. After that, she should request her sponsor to sign the form of sponsorship transfer and submit it to Directorate of Passports to complete sponsor transfer procedures.

The company where my husband works did not allow him to bring me to Qatar and sponsor me. Is this legal? Can my husband sponsor me after his contract with the company comes to an end? Can I sponsor my children when I come to Qatar? Should I receive financial benefits equal to men, particularly like the residence permit and air travel tickets, if I do the same jobs in Qatar?

Employers have to approve the marital status of their hired workers before giving them a contract. Whether employers have approved this marital status can be determined from the residence and air travel allowance employers include in the contract.

If the terms of the contract say the worker has the right to residence and air travel allowance for his/her family, this allowance has to be given him/her once his/he family comes to Qatar.

This is applicable to all workers, regardless of their sex, provided that these workers are sponsored by the company.

Wives and husbands can sponsor each other after submitting the necessary documents to the Ministry of Interior. Wives can also sponsor their children in the light of the procedures of the Ministry of Interior.

According to Labour Law No. 14/2004, female workers have to get the same salary of their male co-workers if they do the same job. Female workers have to be given the same training and promotion opportunities