Unskilled workers near 1mn

The Labour Inspection Department is working on a programme that will monitor all salary payments in Qatar

A senior official at the Ministry of Labour has estimated the current number of unskilled workers in the country to be “close to a million”.

The head of the Labour Inspection Department Mohamed Saeed al-Naimi, however, said the number of expatriate workers in Qatar kept changing and was not a constant.

Qatar’s total population stood at 1.5mn in July, according to figures released by the Qatar Statistics Authority. “It’s hard to give an exact number of the expatriate population because some of the companies send workers home after their projects are completed. Some take as little as a day to send hundreds of workers out of the country,” al-Naimi said in an interview with Gulf Times.

According to him, the labour inspection section, upgraded to a department in May as part of renewed efforts by the government to protect workers’ rights, relies mostly on figures provided by establishments in the country.

In line with the government’s resolve to protect labour rights, the inspection department is working on a “Review Programme” that will monitor all salary payments in the country.

“Our initiative, once finalised, will check whether the employers are paying on time and every month. To update the database we had given companies a deadline of June 1 to furnish us with details,” al-Naimi said.

Once implemented the system will allow the department to screen compliance with the Labour Law. “If any firm is found to be violating the law, we will send out emergency inspection teams and due action will follow.” But al-Naimi said the project was still at the design stage and could take two months for implementation.

The demand for the latest employee statistics is part of Labour Law No 4 of 2004 (Article 115), which makes it mandatory for employers to submit their staff record every six months, including details of those leaving the companies.

[Sidebar] Ramadan hours

Working hours during Ramadan should not exceed eight hours, including two hours of overtime. Labour Inspection Department director Mohamed Saeed al-Naimi said. “This law applies to Muslims and non-Muslims alike,” he added.