Gulf | Bahrain
Minister allays labour law fears
Labour minister Majeed Al Alawi on Tuesday sought to allay concerns among the business community that a new law that scraps sponsorship would disrupt the local market.
- By Habib Toumi, Bureau Chief
- Published: 22:58 May 5, 2009
Manama: Labour minister Majeed Al Alawi on Tuesday sought to allay concerns among the business community that a new law that scraps sponsorship would disrupt the local market.
"We should not have such concerns. We have, for instance, more than 80,000 Bahrainis working in the private sector. Can any company prevent any of these Bahrainis from looking for a new employment opportunity or from switching switch jobs?
"Now if companies cannot prevent Bahrainis, then the same applies to non Bahrainis," he said.
Al Alawi added: "In 2008, around 3,850 non Bahrainis switched jobs and there was no disruption of the local market. So, there is no ground to be concerned."
Labour officials have said an employee cannot resign or wait until the end of his contract before getting or looking for a new job.
"He or she must have a new job at least one month before the end of his or her existing job. According to the law, an employee whose contract expired or who resigned but had no job must leave the country immediately," one labour official said.
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An employee is permitted to resign and switch jobs before the expiry of the contract. The main contention between the labour ministry and the Bahrain Chamber for Commerce and Industry was the demand by the Chamber to make the employees work for up to two years before they are allowed to switch jobs.
"We could not accept the Chamber's suggestion because it defeats the purpose and spirit of the new law," Al Alawi said.
Under the new law, the employer has no right to include in the employment contract any article or clause that stipulates that the employee can leave only at the end of the contract.
"The law is very clear. It stipulates that the employee has the right to move to another job. If the job switch is deemed as illegal by the first employer, then he or she can resort to a court of law to settle the dispute," the minister said.
The new law applies to all foreign workers in both the public and private sectors.
Bahrain currently has around 510,000 foreigners - slightly less than half of the total population.
Indians make up the largest community with around 290,000 people, followed by Bangladeshis, Pakistanis and Filipinos. Most of the foreigners are unskilled working in the construction sector.
Bahrain will also control the flow of expatriates into the market by fixing a ceiling to the number of foreign workers in the country.
"We are carrying out studies and once we have the conclusions and recommendations, we will decide on the top number of expatriates allowed to take up jobs in the country," he said.
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