It is no doubt a very good move by the Qatari government and if the law is enforced, it will definitely bring much relief to the workers who sweat in the summers heat and bear the chill of the winter to complete their jobs. When some of such employers get punished for this act, a clear message will go through to others forcing them to change their ways. However, one thing that should be kept in mind is that crooks are crooks and they will always find a way out to beat the law. I saw a similar situation in S Arabia several years back where manpower suppliers were reputed for not paying salaries for months to their employees. Several reputed companies put in a regulation making it mandatory for manpower suppliers to provide documentary proof of payment of salaries to their employee before they could collect their checks. The proof of payments of salaries was provided to the companies and checks got collected. But in reality on the ground, the situation remained unchanged. The workers were forced to sign their salary receipts without actually collecting the money, to avoid being sent home. No worker wanted to go home as they had spent heavily on buying a visa in their home countries, and so they complied to the unfair demand of their employers. It was arm-twisting policy.
There is always a flaw in every law and the crooks know how to make full use of it!
However, the world has definitely gone much ahead by this time and I am confident the Qatari government will do everything to protect the rights of workers here. This is no doubt going to be a major step which will be much welcomed.
It is no doubt a very good move by the Qatari government and if the law is enforced, it will definitely bring much relief to the workers who sweat in the summers heat and bear the chill of the winter to complete their jobs. When some of such employers get punished for this act, a clear message will go through to others forcing them to change their ways. However, one thing that should be kept in mind is that crooks are crooks and they will always find a way out to beat the law. I saw a similar situation in S Arabia several years back where manpower suppliers were reputed for not paying salaries for months to their employees. Several reputed companies put in a regulation making it mandatory for manpower suppliers to provide documentary proof of payment of salaries to their employee before they could collect their checks. The proof of payments of salaries was provided to the companies and checks got collected. But in reality on the ground, the situation remained unchanged. The workers were forced to sign their salary receipts without actually collecting the money, to avoid being sent home. No worker wanted to go home as they had spent heavily on buying a visa in their home countries, and so they complied to the unfair demand of their employers. It was arm-twisting policy.
There is always a flaw in every law and the crooks know how to make full use of it!
However, the world has definitely gone much ahead by this time and I am confident the Qatari government will do everything to protect the rights of workers here. This is no doubt going to be a major step which will be much welcomed.