Kuwait approves part-time work: All you need to know

Cairo: Kuwait has allowed private sector workers in the country to take on a second partial job with the approval of their original employer.

Kuwaiti First Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Talal Al Khalid issued a decree allowing private sector workers to take on a second part-time job. The policy takes effect early January, according to Kuwaiti media.

The decree imposes a maximum of four hours per day for the second partial job, requiring an additional permit from the Kuwaiti Public Authority of Manpower (PAM). However, the contracting sector, facing a labor shortage, is exempt from this time limit.

The decree aims to make use of manpower already available in Kuwait instead of recruiting labourers from abroad, thus helping address a demographic imbalance in the country and at the same time meet the job market needs.

Al Khalid has also directed PAM to allow employers to permit groups of their employees to work online in jobs that can be done remotely without the need to report to the workplace according to regulations set to safeguard rights of employers and private sector employees alike.

Illegal foreign residents are estimated at 150,000 in Kuwait.

Kuwait has recently toughened measures against illegal foreign residents and warned that any expatriate covering up an unlawful resident will be deported too.

Kuwaiti individuals or companies employing illegals will face charges of unlawfully sheltering and covering up illegals.

Foreigners make up around 3.2 million of Kuwait’s overall population of 4.6 million.

The country is endeavouring to redress its population imbalance and replace foreign workers with its citizens as part of an employment policy dubbed “Kuwaitisation”.