Complaints for non-payment of double in Qatar

Non-payment of wages is the “main complaint” of migrant workers at the Qatar Ministry of Labor, according to two reports from the International Labor Organization (ILO) on Tuesday, 19 days after Qatar World Cup in the emirate.

The number of complaints has “more than doubled” (reaching 34,425 between October 2021 and October 2022) thanks to the launch of an online filing platform last year, according to these reports, urging Qatar to “continue to work for full respect of international. rights”. labor standards”.

“The main causes of complaints are related to non-payment of wages and compensation, and annual leave not granted or paid,” the ILO said, adding that 66.5% were resolved amicably and 30.7% judicially. In 84% of cases, “the judge agreed with the worker.”

“In July 2022, 582,400,000 Qatari riyals (160 million euros) were paid (to compensate) more than 37,000 workers,” the agency added. “This amount reached QAR 1,165,316,181 (more than 320 million euros) on September 30, 2022. This shows the scale of the problem of unpaid wages”, exacerbated by the coronavirus crisis, he believes.

After acquiring the organization of the Mondial-2022 in 2010 (from November 20 to December 18), Qatar has been regularly criticized by international unions and NGOs for its human rights violations, particularly of migrant workers from Asia and US. USA Africa in the construction, security, hospitality and domestic work sectors.

Between 2018 and 2020, the emirate implemented reforms that had a “positive impact” according to 86% of the 1,036 migrant workers surveyed in May and June 2022 as part of these reports. The introduction in March 2021 of a minimum wage affected “more than 280,000 workers, or about 13% of the total workforce in the private sector”, indicates the ILO.

As of August 2022, 67,128 companies are registered in the Salary Protection System established in 2015 and 913 have violated the rules, risking fines and imprisonment.

These reports also show that the number of workers treated for heat-related problems has decreased since the new rules in 2021. But they do not mention the number of deaths from workplace accidents, which are estimated of the ILO of 50 in 2020.

Apply for workers’ compensation funds

NGOs have accused Qatar of underestimating the number of World Cup-related construction site deaths and called on soccer’s governing body, FIFA, to set up a workers’ compensation fund.

The country “showed its determination to advance its program of reforms,” ​​the estimate of the ILO, for its part, was taken in 2014 for a complaint by international unions against Qatar and put the country from in 2018. But “it is generally acknowledged that there are still challenges in its implementation, which is not surprising given the scale and speed of the reforms undertaken,” the UN agency continued.

Among the priorities, “it is necessary to strengthen the mechanisms that allow workers to file complaints and recover their wages,” he said.

It also refers to the “need for all (…) to benefit from labor mobility laws”, as more than 348,450 people have changed jobs between November 1, 2020 and August 31, 2022, before which not possible without the employer’s consent. “The rights of domestic workers must be better protected,” the ILO concluded.

While NGOs worry about abandoning reforms after the World Cup, the Qatari government wants the ILO to “establish a more permanent presence in Doha” after 2023, these reports indicate.