Doha, March 18 (QNA) - Labor Dispute Settlement committee assumed duties on Sunday evening, chaired by a judge appointed by the Supreme Judicial Council and members of the Ministry of Administrative Development, Labor and Social Affairs in order to decide on labor complaints which the Department of Labor Relations of the Ministry of Administrative Development, Labor and Social Affairs cannot resolve amicably.

Director of Labor Relations Department at the Ministry of Administrative Development, Labor and Social Affairs Fahad Zafer Al Dosari said in an interview with Qatar News Agency (QNA) that the Labor Dispute Settlement committee includes three committees each headed by a judge and a staff members from the Ministry, each with a secretariat, and this step comes within the framework of accelerating the procedures for considering complaints of workers in the State of Qatar. He added that the Ministry is also in the process of establishing a Workers' Support Fund, which deals with the payment of the worker's financial dues on the basis of a decision of the Labor Dispute Settlement committee, and it will refund of this amount from the employer by legal means or through litigation. He noted that this fund will assume duties soon, especially as it provides the worker with his right regardless of the bankruptcy of his company or the employer was unable to pay his dues.

Al Dosari stressed that the Labor Relations Department at the Ministry settled more than 80 percent of the problems received while the remaining 20 percent was referred to the judiciary. He noted that the Labor Dispute Settlement committee will consider the cases that the Ministry's Labor Relations Department cannot decide within a period of 3 weeks, pointing out that the decision taken by the Labor Dispute Settlement committee may be appealed to the Court of Appeal within 15 days for dismissal within 30 days.

Director of Labor Relations Department added that the establishment of Labor Dispute Settlement committee was carried out in accordance with the amendments of Law No. 13 of 2017 and in accordance with the decision of the Cabinet No. 6 of 2018 organizing the work and terms of reference of this committee. He stressed that the role of the Labor Dispute Settlement committee is complementary to the role of the Labor Relations Department, which is very important in expedites the resolution of labor complaints and saves time and effort.

Al Dosari said that Labor Relations Department is working to remove the reasons for the complaint within 7 days and if it is not able to do so, it will be referred to the Secretariat of the Labor Dispute Settlement committee, along with a memorandum detailing the complaint and attached to the department's recommendation in this regard. He added that consideration of the case, it shall be adjudicated within three weeks only, while If a litigant objects to the decision of the committee, the case shall be referred to the Court of Appeal, which shall decide it within 30 days.

Director of Labor Relations Department said that the most prominent labor problems facing the administration revolve around overdue wages, end of service benefits, travel tickets and vacation allowance. He stressed that the worker should first go to the employer and ask for his entitlements, if he refuses, the worker must lodge a complaint with the Labor Relations Department or the ministry branch at 13 street in the industrial area or Al Khor, where the dispute will be settled and if it is not resolved within a week, it shall be referred directly to the new committee.

   Director of Public Relations in the Minister of Administrative Development, Labour and Social Affairs Fahad Dhafir Al Dosari said that the State of Qatar has taken many measures to reduce labor problems, most importantly, the legislative measures, including Law No. 1 of 2015, on the protection of wages, which obligates companies and institutions to transfer workers' salaries to financial institutions and Law 15 of 2017 on domestic workers, which highlights workers' rights with respect, leave, working hours and end of service benefits in addition to the Cabinet Decision No. 15 of 2017 on the establishment of Qatar National Committee for Combating Human Trafficking, the Labor Law and the recent amendment of Law No. 13 of 2017 amending certain provisions of the Labor Law.

    Labor Law No. 14 of 2004 in Article 3 specifies three entities which are not subject to the Labor Law, namely employees of ministries and other government agencies, public bodies and institutions and companies established or co-founded by Qatar Petroleum and the military authorities, Fahad Al Dosari said adding that all that is otherwise is subject to the law, pointing out that there are departments concerned with the complaints of Qataris working in the private sector and domestic workers.

      As for Qatar's cooperation with labor-exporting countries, Fahad Dhafir Al Dosari said that there are 36 agreements signed between the State of Qatar and the labor-exporting countries on the regulation of recruiting expatriate labor. The Ministry also signed 5 memorandums of understanding and agreements whereby joint committees were established and bilateral visits were conducted to facilitate recruitment procedures and exchanging information on the workers with the recruitment agencies, he added stressing that the ministry is active in this area and keen on the interests of the worker and the employer to serve common interests.

      He further added that the ministry is keen to prevent any arbitrary measures against the worker through several legislation that preserves their rights, including Law No. 21 of 2015 on the regulation of entry and exit of expatriates, which gives the workers the freedom to change their work. In this context, he stressed the great cooperation between the Ministry of Administrative Development, Labor and Social Affairs; the Foreign Ministry, the Ministry of Interior and the Qatar National Committee for Combating Human Trafficking as well as other relative bodies.

     Fahad Dhafir Al Dosari pointed out the Ministry plays a large role in raising awareness of workers' rights. It organizes many awareness campaigns in different languages, whether through field visits to their places of residence, seminars and events or through social media and distribution of posters and brochures. (QNA)