Is this close to slavery????

Faiz Mohd
By Faiz Mohd

My brother is Electr Engineer and was offered ok package from one local comapany(no objection letter availabe from sponshor company as they recruited and has no jobs for him).
The following condition is part of contract which made me think and post this question..

Termination of Contract.

During the interim Period above this contract can only be terminated after mutual agreement, the Project Engineer must give a Four months notice and Handover all the jobs to his successor whoever that person might be.

He will not indulge in a similar work for a period of minimum of two years after he terminates his contract with the Company. He will not accept appointment in a similar post with any local firm.

Should he do that he will be liable to Penalty of QR.75,000.

Please wanna have feed back??

By Amoud• 27 Jan 2009 13:13
Amoud

I still dont get the point on local companies... any foreign company here is subject to local sponsorship in one form or another and are subject to the same labour laws. I am trying to distinguish the difference. The only difference in Qatar is Government and Private Sector as they are both governened by different laws.

____________________________________________________

"Diplomacy is the art of saying 'Nice doggie' until you can find a rock - Will Rogers"

By Mis-Cat• 27 Jan 2009 13:02
Mis-Cat

Unfortunately for your brother most companies here are just catching on to this clause, but as stated before it has a common practice in a lot of other countries especially in major companies to include a clause like this into employment contracts, even at junior levels.

"Your born, You Live, You Die, given this premise, one can conclude since we have no control over when we are born and when we die, the only thing that matters to us should be how we live, simple really?" Mis-Cat to her philosophy Lecturer.

By Amoud• 27 Jan 2009 12:42
Amoud

Carol what is a local company? Just curious.

___________________________________________________

"Diplomacy is the art of saying 'Nice doggie' until you can find a rock - Will Rogers"

By carol2008• 27 Jan 2009 12:28
carol2008

and local companies keep your passport... thats ridiculous...

By Rizks• 27 Jan 2009 12:26
Rizks

lol UkEng...

By Faiz Mohd• 27 Jan 2009 12:26
Faiz Mohd

But first thing is the manager is not ready to negotiate sayng his words are final..

secondly its not senior past..its Jr.Engineer post..

so contract condition like this can surely apply if post is of Snr.Management level as Qatari said...even i am senior staff but still this kinda condition never seen in other peoples contract too.(Qr 75,000 penalty)

By GodFather.• 27 Jan 2009 12:22
GodFather.

Da you are slave of your camels..wolfies boy

-----------------

HE WHO DARES WINS

By Amoud• 27 Jan 2009 12:21
Amoud

Da do you ever agree with anyone ;)

___________________________________________________

"Diplomacy is the art of saying 'Nice doggie' until you can find a rock - Will Rogers"

By DaRuDe• 27 Jan 2009 12:20
DaRuDe

do i have to agree on that with you :?

:D

By GodFather.• 27 Jan 2009 11:59
GodFather.

Well said Qatari.. I fully back you on that one. This word is completly out of context.

If he is not happy look elsewhere..

-----------------

HE WHO DARES WINS

By Amoud• 27 Jan 2009 11:58
Amoud

True Qatari, well said. Another point is that local companies are the culprits of such slavery. All companies here are in essence "local" and subject to the same laws. ___________________________________________________

"Diplomacy is the art of saying 'Nice doggie' until you can find a rock - Will Rogers"

By anonymous• 27 Jan 2009 11:53
anonymous

it's sad how the word slavery gets thrown around. slavery is when you don't have a choice (which is often the case with unskilled labour).

this is a contract, if you're not happy don't sign it.

as someone said, it is normal in many companies to have senior staff to sign non-compete clauses.

that being said, i wouldn't sign a contract like that :)

By Amoud• 27 Jan 2009 11:47
Amoud

It being a local company is not the issue. This type of agreement will not hold up in Qatar. If it is signed under UK jurisdiction then there is a problem. Any company operating in Qatar has the NOC advantage over its employees. From the sound of the competetion clause this is not a "local" company, and I would read further into this contract to see where the jurisdiction and applicable laws are as well as the selected domiciles.

___________________________________________________

"Diplomacy is the art of saying 'Nice doggie' until you can find a rock - Will Rogers"

By anonymous• 27 Jan 2009 11:35
anonymous

Faiz Mohd Show the employer....your shoes.....

There are many other companies here still recruiting!!!

By carol2008• 27 Jan 2009 10:58
carol2008

just dont work for local companies, not worth at all.

By Mis-Cat• 27 Jan 2009 10:39
Mis-Cat

and if you put aside the fact that we are in Qatar and you need an NOC.

It is becoming standard in most companies world wide to include a 2 year local employment ban in some cases and depending on position in can be up to 10 years, given that they have a local employment ban in the contract,you will also find that somewhere in his contract or even in a separate contract there will also be a confidentiality agreement which will entail that he may not talk directly about any projects that the company is tendering/working on or about the company workings such as financial position, any engineering systems that the company specifically hold patent rights,copy rights or exclusive licensing rights,to persons outside of the company.

As Amoud said it's so they don't go and give away "Trade Secrets" to a competitor, the only Thing is that the ban will being place even after he completes his contract and does not take up the option of extending his employment with the company. Even in these contracts O/S the only way the ban can be voided (and something you want to tell your brother to make sure is stipulated in the contract) is if his contract is terminated through redundancy.

"Your born, You Live, You Die, given this premise, one can conclude since we have no control over when we are born and when we die, the only thing that matters to us should be how we live, simple really?" Mis-Cat to her philosophy Lecturer.

By Victory_278692• 27 Jan 2009 10:35
Victory_278692

this is the part of competition clause, where company doesn't want you join his competitor.

What one can do is to either accept the ban period or join somewhere in another Gulf country during ban period or join a very powerful company (Govt), who shall be able to remove the ban.

Very true that this is a sort of 'slavery'....

A lesson learned to READ, understand the contract before signing it.

By ex-expat• 27 Jan 2009 10:24
ex-expat

Yes it is very close to slavery.

I would try to negotiate on it but I would not sign the contract 'as is'.

By baldrick2dogs• 27 Jan 2009 09:46
baldrick2dogs

"During the interim Period above this contract can only be terminated after mutual agreement, the Project Engineer must give a Four months notice and Handover all the jobs to his successor whoever that person might be."

mutual agreement just means that they accept his resignation. Four months however is excessive and in blatant contradiction of the QLL. The hand over would mean he'd be stuck here for around 6 months after resigning!

"He will not indulge in a similar work for a period of minimum of two years after he terminates his contract with the Company. He will not accept appointment in a similar post with any local firm. "

This sounds like he will NOT get an NOC from them should he leave.

"Should he do that he will be liable to Penalty of QR.75,000."

Which is irrelevant unless he gets an NOC

I would not sign a contract like this.

Did you Google it first?

By nite_rider• 27 Jan 2009 09:45
nite_rider

it is modern day slavery

By Amoud• 27 Jan 2009 09:20
Amoud

This is common with overseas contracts. The 2 years stipulation is to ensure he doesnt terminate his contract and work for a competitor. Since it is a 2 year period this may mean they will not offer an NOC if he terminates.

As for the 4 month termination, that seems a bit steep. Most companies here in Doha have a 2 month, and if I am correct the labor law (if he is working for a private company) may state a 1 month notice period, and there should be stipulations for termination.

I dont think I would sign this. It basically says that he can only terminate if the company allows him, and he has to work a 4 month notice period, and on top of that, kiss the NOC goodbye as he cannot work in Qatar for 2 years. He shouls try and negotiate these terms based on labor law.

_____________________________________________________

"Diplomacy is the art of saying 'Nice doggie' until you can find a rock - Will Rogers"

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