QATAR LABOR LAW (as of 2010)

Last November 11, 2010, I logged in to OFWGuideForum.com to ask my fellow Filipinos working abroad about the status of our company. After 24 hours, 2 of them replied to me and informed me a lot of things I didn't know. I'm happy and thankful for their help and I hope my co-workers here will read my blog to be informed too regarding this matter.

This is a part of my post in the forum: (It's in tagalog since i am addressing it to the Filipinos anyway.) It's a list of what's happening in the studio for almost 3 years now.

1. ang work namin ay from 9am to 9pm. supposed to be 8 hours lang ang work di ba? bkt 12 hours kami?
2. fixed ang overtime pay namin.. 500 QAR a month. di ba parang lugi kami? kasi more than 8 hours tpos 6 times a week and more?
3. may work kami pag fridays... di ba dapat holiday yun dito sa middle east? no work on fridays ang alam ko... and if may work man, double pay di ba??
4. from 9am-9pm working time, may work pa kme na umaabot until 1 or 2am... (dahil ang field namin ay photography, umaattend kami ng mga wedding parties para magcover ng event nila..)
5. from 2000QAR basic salary na nakasulat sa contract namin, double pay daw pagholidays and fridays, may overtime fee per hour, may one day-off daw.... pero obviously, wala! wala lahat yan....
6. wala kaming insurance, walang health card man lang...
7. based from a POEA employee na kakilala ko, kung "direct hire" ka, meaning di ka dumaan sa agency, hawak mo daw dapat ang passport mo.. recently, ang hindi daw magsurrender ng passport sa HR namin eh cacancellin on the spot... sa takot namin, sige, we gave him our passport kahit ayaw namin...
8. sabi ng sponsor namin, yung qatari, eh di daw sya magbibigay ng NOC or release kung gusto mo maghanap ng ibang work/company... pag gusto mo daw lumipat ng ibang company, cacancellin daw nya visa mo, uuwi ka ng pinas, at di ka makakabalik in 2 years.. totoo ba yun???

Then 2 good men from the forum said that these are what we are supposed to do and know about the Qatar Labor Law:

"ireport nyo yan sa philippine embassy at sa qatar labor law.....kung totoo na hindi nila sinunod ang contract ninyo after investigation, pwede kayong maghanap ng malilipatan or magbabayad sila according sa contrata ninyo or else mawawalan sila ng power na mag hire the expats...sobra na sila...ang NOC issue kasi nakadepende sa company yan kahit ok ang work performance may mga company talaga na ayaw mag bigay ng NOC para mapilitan kang mag stay sa kanila........" - junch

"...if those provisions are stipulated in your employment contract signed by you and the company official representative, you have a strong case → Part 6 of Qatar Labour Law is all about Wages...

Article (65) - "The Worker shall be entitled to the wages specified in the service contract and if the contract does not specify the wage the worker shall be entitled to the wage specified in the work regulations."...

kung magiging fair sa inyo ang Qatar Labour Department, I'm sure kahit kamag-anak pa s'ya ng hari, you can win the case by landslide... 'yun eh kung magiging "fair" or "unbiased" sa inyo... and the only way to find-out kung magiging "fair" at "unbiased" sa inyo is to t.r.y. as in "try"...

...here are some of Qatar Labour Law provisions that you can use as your references...

PART SEVEN - REGULATION OF THE WORKING HOURS AND LEAVE

Article (73) - The maximum ordinary working hours shall be eighty four hours per week at the rate of eight hours per day with the exception of the month of Ramadan when the maximum working hours shall be thirty six hours per month at the rate of six hours per day.

Article (74) - The workers may be required to work additional hours to the working hours specified in the preceding article provided that the actual working hours per day shall not exceed ten hours unless the work is necessary for the prevention of gross loss or dangerous accident or for the repair or alleviation of the consequences of the said loss or accident.

The employer shall pay to the worker for the additional working hours the rate of not less than the basic wage plus not less than 25% thereof.

The workers who work between 9pm and 6am shall be paid the basic wage plus not less than 50% thereof with the exception of the shift workers.

Article (75) - The worker shall be allowed of a weekly paid rest which shall not be less than twenty-four consecutive hours and Friday shall be the weekly rest day for all workers with the exception of the shift workers. If the circumstances of the work necessitate the employment of the worker during the rest day the worker shall be compensated for the rest day by another day, and shall be paid for working that day the wage payable to him for the ordinary weekly rest day or his basic wage plus an increase of not less than 150%.

With the exception of shift workers a worker shall not be required to work more than two consecutive Fridays.

...there is no official regulation pagdating sa kung sino ang dapat humawak ng inyong passport... it is totally depend sa employer's policy... may mga kumpanya na hindi nila nire-require na isubmit sa kanila ang passport for safekeeping at may mga employers naman sila ang humahawak ng ating passport – gaya ng kalakaran sa KSA... (side comment lang: sa totoo lang, I don't see any wrong for that and I don't think it is also for our advantages lalo na kung hindi ka magaling mag-safekeeping at kung ang exit/re-entry visa ay kailangan mo pang i-request sa company... ibig sabihin, ibibigay mo din in the end... so what is the purpose of having them?... ang isa lang nakikita kong advantage, gaya sa akin na hawak ko ang aking passport at may multiple-exit/re-netry visa ako, is puwede akong tumakas, este umalis ng bansa ng hindi na kailangang ng approval sa employer ko... basta may e-ticket na ako, I go anytime sa airport & exit the country)...

...totoo talaga na kahit exit ka sa Qatar at wala kang NOC, hindi ka makakabalik ng bansa within 2 years... pero may provision din sa Qatar Labour Law kung kailan may karapatang humingi ng NOC ang isang employee gaya halimbawa kung natakatapos ka naman ng kontrata o kaya ay na-terminate ka dahil sa cost cutting... although, base sa personal kong experience, at gaya na din ng sharing ni ka-junch, may kahirapan pa ding ilaban ito... aabutan ka na lang ng flight mo, pero hindi ka pa din maiissuehan ng NOC kung ayaw talaga ng employer - delaying tactics...

...ano ba dapat namin gawin...

...eto na ang pinakmahirap na discussion... ano nga ba ang puwede ninyong gawin?... una, puwedeng magtiis na lang kayo at magtirik nang kandila na sana ay dapuan ng holy spirit 'yung Qatari sponsor ninyo at bumait o maging makatao... o kaya, kunin na ni Lord at mapalitan ng mas mabait...

...pangalawang option, ipaglaban 'yung inyong karapatan gaya ng mungkahi ni kapatid na junch... at patunayan na hindi talaga natutulog ang Diyos...

...pangatlo, humanap ng iba at hayaan na lang na may mabiktima pang muli ('yung mga papalit sa inyo)...

...kung pangalawang option ang pipiliin ninyo, talagang full-pledge na Bayani na kayo... kaya nga lang, alam naman natin siguro ang karaniwan nang nangyayari sa mga Bayani... you have to prepare yourself... whatever happens, with this option, at least you did the right thing...

...kung 'yun namang una at pangatlo, nobody can blame you, lalo na kung 'yung pagkabahala ng ating mga pamilya sa Pilipinas ang pina-priority natin at ating kaligtasan na din... give warning na lang sa iba..." -joshua

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It's too long but really very informative! I hope all OFWs here in Qatar know these things. Whatever decision we make, it's all for the better for sure. Here's what I learned, I hope I"m right:

-may extra payment pag more than 8 hours ang work... na dapat ang work eh not more than 10 hours a day

-may extra payment pag may work from 9pm-6am. wala naman kaming shiftings so obviously, bagsak sa investigation ang company namin kapag tiningnan nila 'tong point na 'to.

-may bayad din ang work on fridays, and dapat not more than 2 fridays ang may work, meaning yung dalawa pang friday sa isang buwan eh dapat wala talagang pasok.

-6 hours lang ang pasok pag ramadan.

-may insurance ka

-ang day-off ay may bayad, at kung may pasok ka biglaan sa day-off mo, dapat palitan ng ibang araw ang bakasyon mo.

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WELL, WELL, WELL.... I really do hope something good will come out from this blog.