A lack of finances and a shortage of staff are forcing the labour ministry to put off indefinitely a project to prevent employers from paying workers less than what is promised in a job offer, a senior official said yesterday.
"The lack of finances and human resources have postponed IT projects in the ministry," said Ahmad Kajoor, assistant undersecretary of the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs.
"The budget for the IT sector in the ministry is controlled by three ministries plus other authorities, which prevents using it on time or in a way that meets the sector's needs. The sector also suffers from brain-drain with four IT professionals, or one third, of the sector's manpower having resigned this year.
"Among the leading projects that have been put on the back-burners indefinitely is one that makes job visas clearly state the salary and job title of the worker.
"The project was to be implemented from October 1. It was made mandatory for employers to submit job offers along with employment visa applications," Kajoor said.
The move is meant to prevent employers from paying the workers less than promised in a job offer. "It also tries to plug a loophole through which some employers bring workers into the country for specific jobs but instead give them other jobs."
The Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs will only allow a ten per cent difference between the salary mentioned in the job offer and that mentioned in the employment contract.
The law stipulates that employers must submit job offers at the same time as the visa applications and honour them when they sign contracts with workers.
Broken job promises have been the source of a large number of disputes between workers and employers.
The move was meant to protect the rights of workers and would eventually lead to the issuing of a single employment visa rather than the existing two: one by the Ministry of Labour and the other by the Interior Ministry.
Currently, applications for all work permits include optional details about the worker's salary, job title, accommodation and other benefits. Also, the labour ministry does not recognise job offers or any contract other than the employment contract attested by the ministry.
"Making job offers binding on employers and workers will eliminate thousands of disputes... Postponing this project will slow down all other development projects in the ministry," Kajoor said.
