Qatar has been doing a lot in recent times to protect workers’ welfare and rights. The latest move came yesterday when the country announced the introduction of minimum wages for workers for the first time. 

The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), which has been critical of Qatar in the past, has welcomed ‘the breakthrough’ from Qatar’s government to end the kafala system, reported Gulf Times.

ITUC added that it was planning further meetings with the labour minister on implementing labour rights for two million migrant workers in the country.

“The new guidance from Qatar signals the start of real reforms which puts the country on the pathway to meeting its international legal obligations on workers’ rights. Following discussions in Doha, there’s a clear government commitment to normalise industrial protections for migrant workers,” ITUC General Secretary Sharan Burrow explained in a statement.

“These initiatives have the support of the ITUC, and we hope that implementation will be also supported by the International Labour Organisation with its technical expertise. Much remains to be done, but these steps open the way for workers to be treated with dignity and for their lives and livelihoods to be protected,” she added.

Six steps have been taken by Qatar’s government to dismantle the Kafala system. They are:

* Employment contracts will be lodged with a government authority to prevent contract substitution, ending the practice of workers arriving in the country only to have their contract torn up and replaced with a different job, often on a lower wage.

* Employers will no longer be able to stop their employees from leaving the country.

* A minimum wage will be prescribed as a base rate covering all workers, ending the race-based system of wages.

* Identification papers will be issued directly by the State of Qatar, and workers will no longer rely on their employer to provide their ID card without which workers can be denied medical treatment.

* Workers’ committees will be established in each workplace, with workers electing their own representatives.

* A special disputes resolution committee with a timeframe for dealing with grievances will be a centerpiece for ensuring rapid remedy of complaints.