Qatar has come out with several worker-friendly reforms in recent months.

First, Qatari authorities took away the exit permit system for 95% of the workforce in the country. Then they initiated the process of completing worker registration and contract signing in their home countries itself.

All these legal reforms have started to bear fruit, with the number of worker complaints being significantly reduced in recent months, a senior official from the Ministry of Administrative Development, Labour and Social Affairs (MADLSA).

“After abolishing the need for an exit permit, workers now enjoy more freedom of movement. They can leave Qatar whenever they want, and that has helped resolve many pending complaints,” Mohamed Abdulwahid Al Obaidly, MADLSA’s officer of labour complaints was quoted as saying by Gulf Times.

The official said that an official study would soon be undertaken to collect statistics and thus assess the actual success rate of the programme.

“The number of labour complaints is usually less during winter period due to the positive psychological effects of the fine weather. It impacts the workers’ performances," he said.

He said that many labour disputes get escalated to full-blown arguments due to the workers’ and officials’ ignorance of the rule of law in such instances. Sometimes, some employers fail to draft proper contracts which spell out the scope of work, which is an illegal practice.

“It’s only normal that work-related disputes arise in the work environment. But what matters is how these are dealt with and resolved through proper channels as designated by the laws,” said Al Obaidly.

“Cases reported to MADLSA are often resolved in a friendly way through negotiation between the worker and employer. Others pass through the Labour Dispute Resolution Committee,” he added.

He said that some workers abscond due to unjustifiable fear, which makes things much more troublesome as it is a punishable offence.