Wage payment report order comes into force next week

This was announced yesterday by Dr Khalid Al Khazraji, Under-Secretary of the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs for Labour Affairs.

He said that the ministry was still in the process of putting in place a mechanism for implementing the Ministerial Order No. 156 of 2003, issued to end the practice by some private companies of not paying wages to their employees for months, thereby pushing their outraged workers to walk out on their jobs and wage protests.

The mechanism would specify the areas of work to which the new decision will apply, with a particular focus on construction sector from which most of the complaints about non-payment of wages were received, Dr Al Khazraji said.

The order says that workers employed on yearly or monthly remuneration should be paid their wages at least once a month, while others should be paid at least once every two weeks as stated in Article 56 of the Federal labour Law No. 8 of 1980 .

The order authorises labour departments concerned to ask for periodical reports from private companies, provided these reports are prepared and certified by practising auditors as proof that companies' make payment of wages on a monthly or a daily basis.

Under the order, the companies are asked to furnish the required report whenever asked by the labour department.

Besides the report on wages, the order stipulates that private companies when requested should submit to the ministry periodical reports listing the employees on their sponsorship and the locations where they are working whether in projects carried out by their sponsoring companies or in projects executed by other establishments.

According to the ministerial order, the companies which fail to furnish the certified reports on the date to be specified by the labour department, or those that provide incorrect information about their financial status and the payment of employee's wages, will be penalised and will face legal procedures as stipulated in order No. 851 of 2001 concerning the suspension of dealings with the companies which violate the labour regulations.

Errant companies, when blacklisted, will not be allowed to apply for new employment visas or for sponsorship transfer and their dealings with the ministry will be suspended until they rectify the violation.