The International Labor Organization (ILO) has detected improvements in Qatar’s labor market in recent years, but believes they are still insufficient for workers to be able to, for example, claim non-payments across the board or gain freedom to change jobs, especially when it comes to foreign staff.
The ILO, which has been working with the Qatari authorities since 2018, has acknowledged that many migrant workers are still hampered in changing jobs by the strict application of a sponsorship or ‘kafala’ system that virtually ties the employee to his or her employer, which «creates opportunities for exploitation and forced labor.»
The agency aims to ensure that «all workers and employees» can benefit from the reforms on labor mobility in the ‘kafala’ system, for which it is committed to continue to collaborate in the future with local authorities and monitor the evolution of reforms insistently demanded by human rights organizations.
The Qatari Ministry of Labor has approved some 350,000 job changes in two years, insufficient in the eyes of international analysts, who have once again put the spotlight on Qatar at a key moment due to the imminent celebration of the World Cup, which kicks off this month.
Foreign workers also do not have the right to unionize, although in recent years the creation of liaison committees between employees and companies has been favored, which, for the time being, extend to more than 70 companies with more than 40,000 employees in total.
The report also recognizes progress in the area of wages due to the minimum wage applied since March 2021, thanks to which 13 percent of workers were able to earn more, and to the increase in fines for companies that do not pay their employees.
However, non-payments remain the main cause for complaint, at least through the official channels established by the Qatari government after years in which the voice of the workers has remained practically silenced.
Of the 34,425 complaints filed in the last year, the majority relate to salary arrears. Two out of three were resolved without going to trial, and of the 31 percent that did end up in court, 84 percent resulted in verdicts in favor of the plaintiff.
