A year since the launch of Qatar’s Wage Protection System (WPS), more than 1.8mn of the country’s 2.1mn salaried workforce now receive their payment via bank transfer, the Ministry of Administrative Development, Labour and Social Affairs has said.
October 2016 figures from the ministry also show that over 37,916 companies in Qatar are now fully compliant with the WPS. The remaining companies, which employ approximately 15% of Qatar’s workforce, have also committed to joining the system and are currently in the process of meeting all requirements.
The number of uncovered workers is expected to drop in the coming months, as government labour inspectors identify the remaining companies that continue to operate outside of the WPS, the ministry has stressed in a statement.
Since the WPS was enacted on November 2, 2015, all private sector employers in Qatar have been compelled to open bank accounts for their workforce and transfer wages electronically. “The newly released figures underline the positive impact of Qatar’s Wage Protection System, as the scheme reaches its one-year implementation anniversary,” the statement noted.
Since the introduction of the system, 385 violations have been issued against companies enrolled onto the WPS for failing to pay salaries on time, according to the ministry. Punishments include fines between QR2,000 and QR6,000 and a prison sentence of up to one month, or both.
The initiative was designed to end the cash-in-hand culture that puts workers at risk throughout the world, the ministry said. In addition, it grants new powers to the Qatari authorities to monitor wage payment and ensure that migrant workers are being paid in full and on time, as stipulated in their contracts.
Commenting on the first anniversary of the WPS, HE the Minister of Administrative Development, Labour and Social Affairs Dr Issa Saad al-Jafali al-Nuaimi, said, “Throughout the world, some employers use cash-in-hand payment to exploit low-income workers. Through the implementation of the Wage Protection System, Qatar has introduced a paper trail that ensures greater transparency and greater protections for workers at risk of being cheated out of full financial compensation for their efforts.”
Drop in complaints: Meanwhile, the number of complaints made against employers in Qatar has dropped significantly, the ministry pointed out.
Between January and October 2015, the total number of worker complaints received by the government stood at 3,845. However, with the WPS fully enacted, complaints for the first half of 2016 fell to 2,676, representing a 30.4% decrease over this time reporting period.
Commenting on this decline, HE Dr al-Nuaimi said: “We are pleased to observe the very positive impact that recent government initiatives are having on protecting migrant workers in Qatar. We are clear that challenges remain for a minority of individuals in this country, but these figures demonstrate that we are working hard to combat these issues through ongoing reforms of Qatar’s labour laws and practices."