Qatar is delaying payment of wages for migrant workers
Qatar is delaying payment of wages for migrant workers.
In a report issued on Saturday, Human Rights Watch said that the Qatari efforts to ensure regular payment of workers' wages in full, "do not meet" international standards, talking about gaps in the protection systems for migrant workers.
Foreigners make up 90% of Qatar's 2.75 million people, the majority of them from developing countries working on projects related to the hosting of the 2022 World Cup.
In 2015, Qatar established a wage protection system to ensure that employers adhere to the deadlines for paying their employees' wages in full, against the backdrop of criticism by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch in this regard.
A Human Rights Watch report revealed that an unnamed employer had delayed the payment of his managers ’wages for 5 months, and his workers’ wages for two months, highlighting loopholes in the Ministry of Labor’s monitoring of non-compliance with the payment of wages.
The report said that the company's projects include the construction of a World Cup stadium and roads and employ about 6 thousand people, and has paid wages owed to workers only after some of the affected people protest work.
Qatari law prohibits unauthorized public protests and trade union activities.
"Qatar has passed some laws to protect migrant workers, but it appears that the authorities are more interested in promoting these minor reforms in the media than in their success," said Michael Page, Middle East deputy director at Human Rights Watch.
The organization's report, quoting seven company executives, said that 500 managers have not been paid since September 2019, including a group of engineers, surveyors, and supervisors.
The majority of the company’s employees on February 13 received their overdue wages, while the rest are expected to receive their wages on February 16.
The organization revealed that a joint report issued by the Ministry of Labor and the International Labor Organization in June 2019 stated that "a series of problems in the wage protection system impede its effectiveness and burden it in many cases."
"This case of hundreds of delayed wages reaffirms that the wage protection system and the Wage Protection Department are not sufficient to ensure that migrant workers in Qatar receive their salaries in a timely and full manner," Paige said.
Qatar recently canceled mandatory exit visas for domestic workers as part of efforts to promote the rights of foreign workers.
On the other hand, Human Rights Watch says that despite the introduction of some labor reforms over the past two years, the Qatari authorities have not abolished the sponsorship system that "gives employers excessive authority over their employees."
In a report issued on Saturday, Human Rights Watch said that the Qatari efforts to ensure regular payment of workers' wages in full, "do not meet" international standards, talking about gaps in the protection systems for migrant workers.
Foreigners make up 90% of Qatar's 2.75 million people, the majority of them from developing countries working on projects related to the hosting of the 2022 World Cup.
In 2015, Qatar established a wage protection system to ensure that employers adhere to the deadlines for paying their employees' wages in full, against the backdrop of criticism by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch in this regard.
A Human Rights Watch report revealed that an unnamed employer had delayed the payment of his managers ’wages for 5 months, and his workers’ wages for two months, highlighting loopholes in the Ministry of Labor’s monitoring of non-compliance with the payment of wages.
The report said that the company's projects include the construction of a World Cup stadium and roads and employ about 6 thousand people, and has paid wages owed to workers only after some of the affected people protest work.
Qatari law prohibits unauthorized public protests and trade union activities.
"Qatar has passed some laws to protect migrant workers, but it appears that the authorities are more interested in promoting these minor reforms in the media than in their success," said Michael Page, Middle East deputy director at Human Rights Watch.
The organization's report, quoting seven company executives, said that 500 managers have not been paid since September 2019, including a group of engineers, surveyors, and supervisors.
The majority of the company’s employees on February 13 received their overdue wages, while the rest are expected to receive their wages on February 16.
The organization revealed that a joint report issued by the Ministry of Labor and the International Labor Organization in June 2019 stated that "a series of problems in the wage protection system impede its effectiveness and burden it in many cases."
"This case of hundreds of delayed wages reaffirms that the wage protection system and the Wage Protection Department are not sufficient to ensure that migrant workers in Qatar receive their salaries in a timely and full manner," Paige said.
Qatar recently canceled mandatory exit visas for domestic workers as part of efforts to promote the rights of foreign workers.
On the other hand, Human Rights Watch says that despite the introduction of some labor reforms over the past two years, the Qatari authorities have not abolished the sponsorship system that "gives employers excessive authority over their employees."
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