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Bahrain ends sponsor system
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05 May 2009
MANAMA - Bahrain will implement a new labour law that allows foreign workers to switch jobs without the consent of their employer, Majeed al Alawi, the minister of labour, said yesterday.
The new law, known as Decree 79 for the year 2009 - the first of its kind in the Gulf - was adopted following three years of deliberation and with input from the Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI)Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI)Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and Industry
BCCI
Bahrain | Services
News | Profile | Officers
. It will be implemented beginning in early August.
"I am an executive power. I do what the legislature asks me to do and if I do it wrong, then take me to court," Mr al Alawi told a press conference in Manama yesterday as he announced the start of the three-month countdown till the law goes into effect.
He said the law would help to bring an end to the trend in which Bahrainis sponsor several, sometimes hundreds of foreigners, and charge them a "visa fee" to work with another employer. The workers, mostly from the Indian subcontinent, are not allowed to change jobs without the permission of their sponsor.
The law, which passed both the lower and upper houses, would also help slow the number of foreigners entering Bahrain to work. There are more than 500,000 expatriates in the country, about half the population, he said.
"The end of the sponsor system is the most important aspect of this law because in my opinion that phenomena does not differ much from the system of slavery and it is not something suitable for a modernised country like Bahrain," said Mr al Alawi, who is also chairman of the Labour Market Regulatory Authority.
"That system will be broken and eradicated under the new law, because it will end the absolute power which the employer had over the foreign worker."
The authority will review the requests of workers wanting to change jobs to ensure they are within the framework of the law, Mr al Alawi said, but any legal differences between the employer and employee would have to be resolved through the courts.
Bahrain is also studying the possibility of the government's sponsoring of foreign workers, he said.
The new law, which excludes domestic workers, is expected to create a better balance between employee and employer.
As per BCCIBCCI demands, the employer will be able to terminate a member of staff's contract and deport him or her with a month's notice. An employee also can leave their job after giving three months' notice to the company.
"The new law will also help revitalise the labour market in the country, raise wages and improve the overall work atmosphere for everyone, including citizens," Mr al Awari said.
The government is also looking at putting a cap on the number of foreigners who enter the country and would make a decision on that by the end of the year, he said.
"The problem of unemployment is not caused by the lack of job opportunities available here. We don't have real unemployment so having a ceiling will allow us to address the issue of low wages which is the main problem."
Mr al Alawi said that as long as the sponsor system persisted, and foreigners were forced to work for low pay, wages would remain low for everyone.
He dismissed concerns from some in the business community that allowing workers to change jobs with ease would disrupt their operations, saying that last year 3,850 foreign workers switched sponsors without any disruption.
"I doubt that we will see huge number of workers attempting to change work, but people are naturally fearful of change but this law will help improve things," he said.
In 2007, Bahrain was one of several key US allies in the Middle East, along with Kuwait, Qatar and Oman, to be added to the US state department's human trafficking blacklist for what the annual Trafficking in Persons Report described as failure to stop "modern-day slavery".
The country was placed on tier three of the report, where it faced possible economic sanctions, after being cited for failing to target human traffickers who were bringing in people for forced labour or sex work, and for failing to adopt laws which protect foreign workers.
Last year, the 2008 report moved Bahrain to tier two, which is set aside for countries that have not fully complied with the minimum standards but are attempting to do so.
The US said Bahrain had made "significant improvements in its anti-trafficking efforts" in 2007 and acknowledged its "continuing commitment to address the problem of human trafficking".
By Mazen Mahdi, Foreign Correspondent
I hope other GCC countries will also follow the Bahrain
Email Print Comment on this article
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05 May 2009
MANAMA - Bahrain will implement a new labour law that allows foreign workers to switch jobs without the consent of their employer, Majeed al Alawi, the minister of labour, said yesterday.
The new law, known as Decree 79 for the year 2009 - the first of its kind in the Gulf - was adopted following three years of deliberation and with input from the Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI)Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI)Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and Industry
BCCI
Bahrain | Services
News | Profile | Officers
. It will be implemented beginning in early August.
"I am an executive power. I do what the legislature asks me to do and if I do it wrong, then take me to court," Mr al Alawi told a press conference in Manama yesterday as he announced the start of the three-month countdown till the law goes into effect.
He said the law would help to bring an end to the trend in which Bahrainis sponsor several, sometimes hundreds of foreigners, and charge them a "visa fee" to work with another employer. The workers, mostly from the Indian subcontinent, are not allowed to change jobs without the permission of their sponsor.
The law, which passed both the lower and upper houses, would also help slow the number of foreigners entering Bahrain to work. There are more than 500,000 expatriates in the country, about half the population, he said.
"The end of the sponsor system is the most important aspect of this law because in my opinion that phenomena does not differ much from the system of slavery and it is not something suitable for a modernised country like Bahrain," said Mr al Alawi, who is also chairman of the Labour Market Regulatory Authority.
"That system will be broken and eradicated under the new law, because it will end the absolute power which the employer had over the foreign worker."
The authority will review the requests of workers wanting to change jobs to ensure they are within the framework of the law, Mr al Alawi said, but any legal differences between the employer and employee would have to be resolved through the courts.
Bahrain is also studying the possibility of the government's sponsoring of foreign workers, he said.
The new law, which excludes domestic workers, is expected to create a better balance between employee and employer.
As per BCCIBCCI demands, the employer will be able to terminate a member of staff's contract and deport him or her with a month's notice. An employee also can leave their job after giving three months' notice to the company.
"The new law will also help revitalise the labour market in the country, raise wages and improve the overall work atmosphere for everyone, including citizens," Mr al Awari said.
The government is also looking at putting a cap on the number of foreigners who enter the country and would make a decision on that by the end of the year, he said.
"The problem of unemployment is not caused by the lack of job opportunities available here. We don't have real unemployment so having a ceiling will allow us to address the issue of low wages which is the main problem."
Mr al Alawi said that as long as the sponsor system persisted, and foreigners were forced to work for low pay, wages would remain low for everyone.
He dismissed concerns from some in the business community that allowing workers to change jobs with ease would disrupt their operations, saying that last year 3,850 foreign workers switched sponsors without any disruption.
"I doubt that we will see huge number of workers attempting to change work, but people are naturally fearful of change but this law will help improve things," he said.
In 2007, Bahrain was one of several key US allies in the Middle East, along with Kuwait, Qatar and Oman, to be added to the US state department's human trafficking blacklist for what the annual Trafficking in Persons Report described as failure to stop "modern-day slavery".
The country was placed on tier three of the report, where it faced possible economic sanctions, after being cited for failing to target human traffickers who were bringing in people for forced labour or sex work, and for failing to adopt laws which protect foreign workers.
Last year, the 2008 report moved Bahrain to tier two, which is set aside for countries that have not fully complied with the minimum standards but are attempting to do so.
The US said Bahrain had made "significant improvements in its anti-trafficking efforts" in 2007 and acknowledged its "continuing commitment to address the problem of human trafficking".
By Mazen Mahdi, Foreign Correspondent
I hope other GCC countries will also follow the Bahrain
