Doha: Qatar, host of the 2022 football World Cup, said on Wednesday it will abolish its sponsorship system for foreign workers.
The sponsorship system “will be replaced with a system based on employment contracts,” as part of a package of labor reforms, said an Interior Ministry statement read out at a press conference in Doha.
Bahrain abolished the system in 2009, but Kuwait dropped reported plans to follow suit in 2011, AFP reported. The Qatari reforms, which need to be submitted to the emirate’s consultative council and chamber of commerce and industry before being adopted, will also end the longstanding requirement that foreign workers obtain their employer’s consent before leaving the Gulf country.
“The current exit permit system, which requires the employer’s consent for an employee to leave the country, will now be replaced with an automated system through the Ministry of Interior,” the statement said.
The new system will automatically grant an exit permit to an employee “after a 72-hour grace period prior to departure,” it said. The government will also raise the fine for employers who confiscate the passports of foreign workers to 50,000 riyals ($13,580) from the current 10,000 riyals, in a bid to stamp out the illegal but still common practice.
Foreign workers will be able to change job at the end of their contract, without the need for the certificate they currently require that their previous employer has no objection. If the contract is open-ended, a foreign worker will be able to change jobs after five years. Officials gave no precise timeline for implementation of the reforms.