Last year December Qatar nullified ‘Kafala’ framework and changed its regulations into contract-based framework, numerous expats tried to change occupations realizing that they no longer need to acquire their employer’s authorization to show to another organization at the end of the contract period.
What Kafala System mentions about Employees
Numerous expats consider the Kafala framework to be harsh and strict with their contract being a trap forcing them to work in extreme working conditions. A few businesses even withhold compensation and passport of their foreign workers.
Kafala or sponsorship framework practiced in GCC countries expresses the below restrictions for workers in Qatar, which means the employees were not permitted to do the below:
- Change employments without taking consent from ‘sponsor’ or ‘kafeel’
- Leave the nation without the consent of the ‘kafeel’
- Choose to end the contract with his organization
- Personally process residency permit without authorization of the sponsor
- At the point when the contract is broken, the worker, not the sponsor, is criminalized
It was reported that numerous businesses exploit these stipulations, particularly with low-salary labors, that leave a considerable lot of them baffled and frustrated to their agreements.
The progressions made on the framework certainly gave an appreciated help to numerous foreign workers.
Process for Changing Jobs in Qatar
According to rules from the Hukoomi of Qatar, applications for the employer change needs to be submitted to the Committee for Looking into Incomers’ Applications affiliated to General Directorate for Border Passports and Expatriate at the Ministry of Interior.
The below are the steps to change job:
- Show a contract or job offer letter from the new employer to your present employer as a notice of your job change.
- Acquire a No Objection Certificate from your present employer.
- Get a police clearance from the embassy of your nation of origin that must be attested by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Qatar.
- The above records together with the duplicates of the below needs to be submitted to the Criminal Evidences and Information Department.
a) Application Form for changing employer.
b) Organization’s Registration of the present and new employer
c) Contract from the new employer
d) Residence Permit and passport
In situations when the employer terminates the contract, the worker will be offered up to three months by MADLSA to discover new work.
After getting a new job, worker needs to provide the new employee contract to the ministry but in case if the worker failed to find a new job within that time frame he will be asked to leave Qatar.
Essential Points to Remember
In spite of the fact that workers now have more liberty to change employment but there are still conditions that they have to follow before doing as such.
As indicated by Hukoomi Portal, workers need to meet the below conditions before they can ask for a job change:
- The expat should complete the term of the work contract inside the nation or the employer may end the agreement without any legal sanctions on the expat.
- The expat shall work for five years or more with a same employer, if the contract terms in undefined.
- If the employment contract term is undefined, the permission of the present employer on moving to work for another employer is required, if the expat is looking to terminate the present contract without completing its term or the five years time frame.
- Relating Fees for the Services
As mandated by the Hukoomi of Qatar, the below fee is required:
- Changing the employer for first time: QR 2000 for organizations, QR 1000 for people.
- Changing the employer for second time: QR 2500 for organizations, QR 1500 for people.
- Changing the employer for third time or more: QR 3000 for organizations, QR 2000 for people.
