Labor chief lauds ‘kafala’ scrapping

Overseas Filipino workers (OFW) are among the thousands of migrant workers in Qatar who will reap benefits from the recent abolishment of the “kafala” system, the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) said on Wednesday.

Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III, in a statement, said the Qatar government’s move to scrap the “kafala” system, or the stringent monitoring of migrant laborers, working primarily in the construction and domestic sectors, is seen as “a giant step towards improving the work condition of Filipino workers” in the Arab state.

We wish to thank the state of Qatar for this significant reform in their employment laws.

It is an employment sponsorship system used to monitor migrant laborers working primarily in the construction and domestic sectors in Gulf Cooperation Council member states and a few neighbouring countries, such as Bahrain and Kuwait. The system requires migrant workers to get permission from their employers should they decide to change jobs.

“We wish to thank the state of Qatar for this significant reform in their employment laws. This is a giant step to improve the work conditions of migrant workers, especially our OFW,” Bello said in a statement.

Citing a report from the Philippine Overseas Labor Office in Qatar, Bello noted Qatar’s enactment of Decree Law 18 and 19 of 2020 amending some provisions of Labor Law No. 14 and 21 series of 2004.

The new legislations allow all migrant workers to change jobs before the end of their contracts without first having to obtain a “No Objection Certificate” from their current employer, and provide greater clarity regarding the termination of employment.