Manpower systems don’t accept less than KD 75 minimum wage

Ministerial decision number 14/2017 set the minimum monthly wages paid for workers in the private and oil sectors at KD 75, said Ahmad Al-Moussa, Acting Director of the Public Authority for Manpower said. This applies for new or renewed contracts including government ones signed after the decision was issued, he added, further explaining that the authority’s systems will not accept wages less than the aforementioned number.

Meanwhile, Moussa announced amending the work permit issuing mechanism. He explained that the amendments include cancelling the work permits committee and adding new lines of business for which employers will get work permits. Moussa further added that employers will be divided into three categories; including one for companies fully-owned by the government or those in which the government owns at least 25 percent of the shares like hospitals, clinics, banks, insurance and investment companies and hotels.

New activities

Minister of Commerce and Industry and Acting Minister of State for Youth Affairs Khaled Al-Roudhan issued a ministerial decision on adding 221 new commercial activities to the list of commercially licensed ones. The Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MCI) explained that the new activities include professional jobs, computer programming, sports, services and retail trade. MCI urged other relevant government bodies and ministries such as the Interior Ministry to set their own regulations on issuing those licenses.