By Nizar Kochery/Doha

QUESTION: I have been working with a company for more than two years. Last month I had a fight with a person working with another company while I was at his residence. My company learned about this a week later and is investigating this. The problem between me and that person was personal and had nothing to do with the two companies. The fight was about an issue that had happened in our home country. I have been informed by my company manager that I may face disciplinary action and my visa may even be cancelled because of this. Already the company has deducted five days of my salary as penalty. Is the company entitled, in accordance with Qatar’s Labour Law, to impose penalty on me and terminate me over an issue occurred outside the company?

TP, Doha

 

QUESTION: Article 62 of the Labour Law No 14 of 2004 stipulates that no disciplinary penalty may be imposed on a worker for any act committed by him outside the workplace, unless such act is connected with the work, the employer or the responsible manager.

It shall also be unlawful to impose more than one penalty or to combine a disciplinary penalty with a deduction of part of the worker’s remuneration.

 

Maternity leave

Q: I am working with a local company for the past few years. What maternity benefits are available for female employees under Qatar’s Labour Law?

SR, Doha

 

A: According to Article 96 of the Labour Law female employees are entitled to 50 days paid maternity leave with full salary. One year in employment with the same employer is the qualifying service required. The leave must be taken in the period immediately before and after delivery provided that the leave must include 35 days in the post-delivery period.

If the post-delivery health condition hinders her return to work after the end of the maternity leave period then, provided that an adequate medical certificate is furnished, an employee may take unpaid leave for a period not exceeding 60 consecutive or staggered days.

To avail of the leave the employee should provide to their employer a medical certificate issued by a licensed physician stating the expected delivery date.

A female employee who is breastfeeding her child is entitled to a one hour nursing break, per day, for one year following delivery of the child.

The employee has the right to determine when she takes her one hour nursing break each day. The nursing break shall be calculated as part of the working hours of the employee and there shall not result in a deduction of her wage.

 

Salary promise is unfulfilled

Q: The company’s offer letter provides a basic salary of QR15,000. Now after three months of joining, the company has made an employment contract both in English and Arabic with basic salary as QR9,000 and no allowances. On asking, they explained me that the company would be paying a total of QR15,000 and the contract is only a formality for visa stamping. For the last three months I have received only QR7,500 as my salary. How can I bring my family with this package? I want to quit but they say that they will not repatriate me and they will hand over the passport to the CID. Is this possible? Is it compulsory that I must sign the contract? Do I need to give notice of termination? If I leave now I can save my former job and keep my family undisturbed.

AB, Doha

 

A: Basic wage is significant in the calculation of leave wages, end-of-service gratuity, etc. End-of-service gratuity is determined on the basis of the last drawn basic wage. Therefore insist on the inclusion of all the terms and conditions as agreed. If not settled amicably, file a complaint with the Labour Department to force employer to abide and pay what the employer has promised.

Article 51 of the Labour Law provides right of termination of employment contract by the employee without any notice. The employee may terminate the employment contract if the employer or his representative has misled the worker at the time of entering into the service contract as to the terms and conditions of the work. 

Also, the contract is terminable if the employer commits a breach of his obligations under the service contract.

 

Probation extension

Q: Under the employment contract my probation period has been agreed as four months. However, even after the completion of six months of employment, the company has not issues any confirmation letter. I work as an engineer with the company. Now I want to avail of a loan from the bank; is it mandatory that a confirmation letter to be issued by the company for proving employment? My employer is retaining my passport. In the beginning they said after probation they would release the passport but it has not been done. 

ER, Doha

 

A: As per law, service with the company got automatically confirmed on completion of the four-month probationary term. In the event of extension of the period of probation, written orders must be issued and the maximum permitted term shall be six months. No specific confirmation letter is required to establish the service confirmation. With respect to your passport, the sponsor has no right to retain the worker’s passport.

 

♦ Please send your questions by  e-mail to: leges@qatar.net.qa

 

LEGAL SYSTEM IN QATAR

If an attachment is placed upon the insured property or if it is seized, the insured shall not where a declaration is made thereto as indicated in the preceding paragraph pay anything owed to the insured.

The insurer shall, on account of a compensation paid in respect of a fire in the claims the insured has, legally replace the insured towards the person who has caused the damages giving rise to the insurer’s liability unless the person who has caused the said damages is the insured’s relative or in-law living with him in the same household or is a person for whose acts the insured is liable.

According to Article 809, a surety cannot be presumed. A surety is a contract whereby a person becomes jointly liable with the debtor for performance of an obligation by undertaking to make payment to the creditor where the debtor fails to make such payment.

The surety’s consent shall be explicit and a surety shall only be confirmed in writing even though it is permitted to confirm the original obligation by another method.

If a person undertakes to provide a surety, he shall provide a solvent surety whose domicile shall be situated in the State of Qatar, failing which he shall be required to provide a sufficient security in kind. If the surety becomes insolvent after giving the surety or no longer has a domicile in the State of Qatar, another solvent surety or a sufficient security in kind must be provided.

A debtor may become a surety without his knowledge and such surety may also be provided in spite of his objection. A future obligation may be guaranteed, if the extent of the surety’s obligation is determined in advance. In addition, a conditional obligation may be guaranteed.

If the surety does not fix a period for his surety, he shall be empowered to revoke it at any time so long as the guaranteed obligation has not arisen, provided that he shall notify the creditor of his revocation at an appropriate time.

A surety shall not be valid unless the guaranteed obligation is valid. If the surety is provided owing to the lack of the debtor’s liability so that his obligation is rendered null and void, the surety shall be liable towards the creditor for payment of the guaranteed obligation in his capacity as a principal debtor.

A debtor may become a surety without his knowledge and such surety may also be provided in spite of his objection. A future obligation may be guaranteed, if the extent of the surety’s obligation is determined in advance. In addition, a conditional obligation may be guaranteed.

If the surety does not fix a period for his surety, he shall be empowered to revoke it at any time so long as the guaranteed obligation has not arisen, provided that he shall notify the creditor of his revocation at an appropriate time.