Doha

The Wage Protection System (WPS) that makes it mandatory for employers to transfer salaries to workers’ accounts in one of the financial institutions in Qatar comes into effect on Monday.
According to the amended labour law, company owners not transferring workers’ wages electronically in time will be liable to face a jail term not exceeding a month or a fine of QR2,000 to QR6,000 or both.
The new system is being implemented based on amendments to Labour Law No. 14 of 2004. A ministerial decision on WPS says that employees’ salaries must be transferred to their bank accounts by the seventh day of every month.
The six-month grace period granted to employers to implement the WPS ends today. Labour and Social Affairs Minister HE Abdullah Saleh Mubarak al-Khulaifi recently said there will be no extension of the grace period and the system will be enforced from November 2.
The minister has been authorised to frame and enforce executive regulations to help implement its provisions.
The law suggests that not only wages but all types of payments, including allowances and perks, must be paid to workers only electronically.
The Labor Ministry said earlier that WPS will allow it to create a national database that would record wage payments in the private sector and guarantee timely and full payment to workers.