By the 13th day of December 2016, Qatar will start to implement its new labor law. This is after a year since the law was first published in the official gazette.
With the implementation of this new regulation, job contracts that will be signed by expatriate workers and their respective employers will rule the relation between the concerned parties.
As of the moment, an exit permit from the sponsor is needed in the event that an expatriate worker needs to leave Qatar. This will no longer be the case once the new labor law is already in place by mid-December.
Expats who complete their contracts will only need to obtain permission from the concerned departments at the Ministry of Interior.
Meanwhile, expats who, for some reason, decide to resign from their jobs before finishing their contracts will have to give clarification about their resignation to the Ministry of Interior. Upon receiving approval from the Qatar Ministry, the worker will then be permitted to leave the country.
This change simplifies the whole process by removing the required 2-year period for an expat worker to return to the country to work in a new job after departing.
As Brigadier Mohamed Ahmed al-Atiq, assistant-director general of the Department of Border, Passport and Expatriates Affairs, explained:
“Since the new law abolishes kafala (sponsorship system), a person who had previously worked in Qatar would not have to seek the approval of his former sponsor if he is recruited by a new employer.
“A foreign worker who has got a new contract to work in Qatar can come back even the next day, provided he has met the other requirements like visa.”
For additional information about this new labor law in Qatar, you can go visit the QatarDay website and read all the important details there.