Workers in Kuwait caught between law redress, abuses

Voice against the rights of domestic workers

This report by the Kuwait Society for Human Rights examines the reality of labor in Kuwait, and specializes in monitoring legal, administrative, positive and negative changes happening in the field, and in reading the dimensions of these changes on migrant workers “noncitizens” and their impact on the Kuwaiti society, State, economic vision and foreign policy.

Positive steps

The State of Kuwait has taken a number of procedural and administrative reforms of a positive nature in the labor arena, and which have been monitored during the last months covered by this report. The following are the most important.

On 6/5/2018 Law No 17 of 2018 was published in the Official Newspaper, including the amendment of the last paragraph of Article (51) of Law No 6 of 2010, as amended previously under Law No 85 of 2017. That amendment was to protect the rights of workers in the private sector by extending the period of validity of Law No 85 of 2017, which amended the last paragraph of Article 51 to be the entry into force of the provision of this amended paragraph from the date of Act No 6 of 2010. The paragraph stipulates that the worker is entitled to a full end of service benefit at the end of his service in the agency where he works without deducting the amounts paid by this agency for the subscription of the worker in the Social Insurance Institution during his employment period.

The new addition under Law No 17 is that this provision shall enter into force from the date of Law No 6 of 2010 referred to above, that is, immediately retroactive because the amounts paid by employers for social insurance were deducted from the end of service benefits of the workers before the date of this amendment.

The Competition Protection Authority, through the judicial control teams of the Authority, conducted three days of tours, including the recruitment offices of domestic workers, to ensure that these offices did not enter into any agreements between themselves to harm and exploit the competitors and to activate the role of the Authority to detect any harmful practices to competition.

Those inspection tours after days from the issuance of Decision 614/2018 about the transfer of competences that are stated in Law 68/2015 on Domestic Labor from the Ministry of Interior to the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor and the Public Authority for Labor Force, with the continuation of the existing regulations and resolutions in force until they are amended or canceled as a step to equate domestic workers with the rest of the other categories of workers through the subordination of the Public Authority for Labor Force.

Mechanism of absence

A statement from the Assistant Undersecretary of the Ministry of Interior for Nationality and Passports at the opening of the Citizen Service Center inside the headquarters of Al-Durra Company for the Recruitment of Domestic Workers that the Ministry does not object to lifting absenteeism from migrant workers who are reported to be absent during the presence of the employer (sponsor).

The mechanism of absence notice is very complicated, because the notice after registration by the employer against the worker in the Labor Relations Department at the Public Authority for Labor Force is referred to the Ministry of the Interior after 60 days. The period was 90 days previously, but the permit period was reduced, as it limits extortion in some notices and proves the seriousness of the employer and the lack of malice. Arranging the contractual relationship between the worker and the employer is the responsibility of the Authority in general, and the Sector of public forces protection in particular, which through all its departments provide legal protection to the worker and preserve all his rights guaranteed by Law No 6 of 2010, issued on the work in the civil sector.

Adopting a new regulation on the rules and procedures for granting work permission and issuing administrative decision No 552 of 2018 regarding the issuance of this regulation which consists of two sections, 14 chapters and 46 articles. The adoption of these regulations is the activation of a number of administrative and ministerial decisions. The main provisions included in the regulation are the confirmation of closing the employer’s file contemporarily and permanently if he commits fraud, cheating and forgery in the information, and confirmation that employers should declare a notice of absence against the absent worker at the Labor center in order to determine the validity of the notice and that it is not malicious.

A working woman was given a four-month leave with full payment at the time of her husband’s death. She was also given two hours to breastfeed during working hours under certain conditions. The most important provisions of the regulation is the possibility of issuing work permits to non-Kuwaiti partners in Kuwaiti companies as partners, thus guaranteeing the rights of these partner migrant workers and provide them with legal protection. In the past, the non-Kuwaiti partner’s status as a partner was only mentioned in the company’s memorandum of association, and his work permit does not include a statement of his partnership. Also employers in the civil and oil sectors were prevented from detaining the travel documents for their workers and the employers were allowed to cancel work permit of the prisoner or absentee worker.

Inspection tours

The Labor Inspection Department in the Public Authority for Labor Force has followed up the extent of employers’ compliance with Law No 6 of 2010 regarding work in the private sector and its implementing ministerial and administrative decisions through inspection tours such as inspecting the facility to ensure the application of the legal provisions and commitment to the determined regulations and to ensure the compliance with the employment of workers who are allowed by the Public Authority for Labor Force only.

Monitor and follow-up process is necessary to ensure the application of law and its provisions. The number of violations that have been referred to the General Directorate of Investigations during the five months from 1/1/2018 to mid-May was 214 violations divided as follows: 139 violations of labor inspection, 25 occupational safety violations, 33 permanent suspension violations and 17 violations of (Article 20), ie employment of domestic workers in the private sector.

Final suspension of the administrative decision No 1280 of 2017 concerning the amendment of the administrative decree No 839/Q of 2015 regarding the organization of work in the civil and oil sectors, which include the prohibition of issuing work permits for workers from abroad, who hold diploma and above and are under 30 years of age.

The Board of the Public Authority for Labor Force decided a final suspension of the decision, and a development of alternative policies that regulate the labor market, attract the experienced and competent from abroad, as well as steer the employers to National labor, and create new jobs for young people. The above resolution was originally scheduled for early January, but was postponed for further technical study of the automated system for the completion of procedures related to the labor sector, which was supposed to be effective at the beginning of July, but it was finally suspended.

On May 31, the Minister of Health has approved the monthly wages of workers on the item (pay for work) in the various facilities of the Ministry for May, to be deposited in the accounts of workers, mostly no-citizenship category (Bedoon). The workers on the item (pay for work) in the Ministry of Health suffer from continuous delay in the payment of wages and they are about (3000) male and female workers in the Ministry, and receive low salaries compared to their peers.

Exposed workplaces

The Public Authority for Labor Force has begun implementing Resolution No 535 of 2015 on the prohibition of employing workers in exposed workplaces, where work is difficult due to extreme climatic conditions, which make it difficult to perform work in normal working hours, in accordance with the provisions of the Labor Law No 6 of 2010 and its implementing decisions, and the international conventions for the health and safety of workers. The prohibition is during the period from the first of June until the end of August from 11 am to 4 pm.

On June 19, the Minister of Social Affairs and Labor has revealed the transfer of a number of companies that were trading in work visas to the Kuwaiti judiciary in order to eliminate the trade of residences. She pointed out that the verdicts issued by the judiciary either fines or imprisonment indicating that there are cases that were not pleaded which means the verdict shall enter into force. This step is considered a great achievement in order to eliminate the phenomenon of the trade in residences in Kuwait, as it is growing despite the intensification of penalties in the Labor Law No6 of 2010 on work in the private sector through the amendment of Article 138 under Law No 32 of 2016.

Public and private deterrence through intensified punishment must be accompanied by law enforcement at the national level, ensuring the highest degree of legal protection of labor under the labor law. The Minister of Social Affairs and Labor has confirmed that the Ministry is currently working on the establishment of a shelter for male migrant workers and is considering relocating the women’s shelter to another location to be more accessible and safe.

The labor attache at the Philippine Embassy in Kuwait has confirmed that the relations with Kuwait are fine and very good, especially after the Kuwaiti side understands his country’s demands for providing the necessary protection for Philippine workers inside the country. This was done by signing a special agreement between the two parties. The most important change in the situation of domestic workers after the signing of the Philippine and Kuwait agreement is the provision of a complex to become a place where the workers gather to practice their hobbies, social and recreational activities, as well as meet with friends during the holiday stated in the agreement, as there is no specific place for those workers.

We are trying to address this problem and provide an off day during which the workers can practice their activities, in addition to providing recreational facilities, food and drink during their weekly leave. He also pointed out another important topic related to the establishment of a special monitor sector that enables the two sides to control the domestic workers’ situation. The sector includes staff, secretary and service providers, in order to enable the Kuwaiti and Filipino sides to control the conditions of domestic workers and monitor the problems that they are exposed to and work to resolve them as well as respond to the concerns of those workers.

The Public Authority for Labor Force has cooperated with the Government of Britain to establish a website on the termination of forced labor, modern slavery and human trafficking to protect workers in the labor market through Labor Law No 6/2010 and to promote decent work. — Provided by Kuwait Society for Human Rights, visit www.kuwaithr.org for more info

See this page for the continuation of this report in tomorrow’s Kuwait Times