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Kuwaiti MP hits out at expat right to change employers
| Published: | 10 Jan at 6 PM |
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Expat professionals working in Kuwait are under attack again regarding their right to change employers and residence permits.
Kuwaiti MP Mubarak al Hajraf is being quoted in the Arab Times as attacking his government for not nationalising the jobs market as a tool to assist Kuwaitization of the workforce. Other oil-producing states are, he says, reorganising their labour markets to reduce dependence on foreign workers, whilst Kuwait is encouraging the continuance of the status quo.
Al Hjraf is also up in arms over so-called interference by foreign embassies in decisions made by the Public Authority of Manpower. He is accusing diplomats of influencing decisions in favour of their nationals, stating the labour law needs to be changed in order to make plain the obligations and rights of both sides.
According to Al Hijaf, expats must be disallowed from changing employers and residency permits as long as the employer adequately demonstrates respect for contractual provisions involving vocational, financial and labour rights. He believes the measure will reduce the numbers of expats arriving in the emirate to make trouble, whilst allowing those who wish to come to work and benefit society.
He also states the current labour law is riddles with loopholes regarding expats who post grievances whilst working for other employers than their original sponsors. Expats, he says, are taking advantage of Kuwait’s weak labour laws by filing multiple complaints and not arriving for hearings in order to be allowed to transfer their work visas.
Meanwhile, a report from Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Labour and Social Development has revealed there are 8.9 million expatriate workers in the kingdom as against just 1.8 million Saudi citizens. Most expats are working in the private sector, with the public sector providing employment for the majority of working nationals, most of whom are men.
Kuwaiti MP Mubarak al Hajraf is being quoted in the Arab Times as attacking his government for not nationalising the jobs market as a tool to assist Kuwaitization of the workforce. Other oil-producing states are, he says, reorganising their labour markets to reduce dependence on foreign workers, whilst Kuwait is encouraging the continuance of the status quo.
Al Hjraf is also up in arms over so-called interference by foreign embassies in decisions made by the Public Authority of Manpower. He is accusing diplomats of influencing decisions in favour of their nationals, stating the labour law needs to be changed in order to make plain the obligations and rights of both sides.
According to Al Hijaf, expats must be disallowed from changing employers and residency permits as long as the employer adequately demonstrates respect for contractual provisions involving vocational, financial and labour rights. He believes the measure will reduce the numbers of expats arriving in the emirate to make trouble, whilst allowing those who wish to come to work and benefit society.
He also states the current labour law is riddles with loopholes regarding expats who post grievances whilst working for other employers than their original sponsors. Expats, he says, are taking advantage of Kuwait’s weak labour laws by filing multiple complaints and not arriving for hearings in order to be allowed to transfer their work visas.
Meanwhile, a report from Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Labour and Social Development has revealed there are 8.9 million expatriate workers in the kingdom as against just 1.8 million Saudi citizens. Most expats are working in the private sector, with the public sector providing employment for the majority of working nationals, most of whom are men.
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