Some employers in Qatar still flouting labour laws

While steps are being taken by the authorities concerned to ensure proper working conditions for labourers, a section of employers is apparently continuing to indulge in questionable practices, it is learnt.

Recently, workers of a manpower company laying tiles on pavements alleged that their employers were not allowing them to go to the government-run health centres or similar facilities for treatment after some of them sustained injuries, especially to their knees, during work hours.

One of them said the employers feared that frequent visits to health facilities by workers could land the company in trouble as there were chances of the injuries being recorded in documents there. Employing workers in such conditions could invite penalties for such firms, it is understood.

Another grievance of workers of manpower firms is that their employers are seemingly making no efforts to transfer their salaries to bank accounts.

On the other hand, such employers claim that some of the banks are refusing to accept salary accounts below a particular level. As a result, the problem is yet to be solved, they contend.

There are also complaints of some employers asking workers at the lower levels to sign salary documents prepared with pencils. Once the workers sign such papers, the office staff reportedly erase the entire statement and prepare fresh documents showing different salaries even while the workers' signatures are retained.

Meanwhile, some workers complain that their employers do not give them tickets despite putting in two years of continuous work, sometimes even without availing of their weekly day-offs.

One of them said though he worked for 21 months for his employer, the company manager not only refused to bear the cost of his annual ticket in proportion to the number of days he had worked, but also wanted him to travel at his own expense. [Gulf Times]