What You Need to Know About Qatar Employment Contracts

What You Need to Know About Qatar Employment Contracts

If you are working in Qatar, it is important for you to learn more about your legal documents including your employment contract.

Everyone who works in the country must have this document, which states the rights and duties of both workers and employers.

Whether you are still in your home country and you received an offer to move to Qatar, or if you are already in the country and planning on changing jobs, this short video gives you some tips on how to ensure you understand your employment contact and your rights are respected.

Working in Qatar

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Qatar’s National Vision 2030 promotes the importance of a capable workforce committed to business ethics and outlines a strategy to increase and diversify the participation of Qataris in the workforce, as well as attract expatriate talent and labor while protecting rights and ensuring safety.

QNV2030 Vision is backed by Qatari laws which ensure the protection of workers’ rights in accordance with international conventions. In this context, the labor law has been issued to regulate the relationship between employers and their employees. It was amended in 2015, by developing a labor salary protection system, helping to maintain Qatar’s reputation as one of the most attractive work destinations in the world.

A labor market full of opportunity

Expatriate workers come to Qatar because of the countless job opportunities it offers. You can easily find more Doha jobs for expats online.

The country has one of the lowest unemployment rates in the world with an abundance of job opportunities in both the public and private sectors.

In the past five years, the number of expatriate workers has increased to over a million. In the preparations for the 2022 World Cup, Qatar offers nearly 2 million job opportunities: 1.5 million in the World Cup projects alone, and 0.5 million jobs in infrastructure projects.

As a result, about 95% of the companies and institutions in Qatar are planning to expand, whether through opening new branches or enlarging operations at their current headquarters. This will translate to even more job opportunities in the future. Currently, Qatar offers more than 1.5 million jobs to expatriates, with an increase of up to 16% annually, and this rate is expected to increase in future. Qatar offers jobs to almost 90% of expatriates, who work in various sectors in jobs that are considered the best in the world, according to international reports.

Finding work

Job seekers can search for doha jobs 2021 through the media, or Qatari, Arab and foreign employment websites, which offer many diverse jobs and are updated frequently.

Qataris can also search for a governmental job through the Ministry of Administrative Development, Labor and Social Affairs website.

High pay levels, rewarding work

Qatar provides a rewarding work environment and offers the highest salaries. Experts predict that Qatar will be the country of the highest salaries among the GCC countries in the future, with more than $200 billion of investment in infrastructure in the coming years. What’s more, most employees benefit from either tax-free or low taxed salaries.

The process of entering Qatar to work

Once a contract of employment has been agreed with your employer, a temporary visa will be sent to you. You can follow-up on visa issuance and print the visa through the Ministry of Interior's website or on Hukoomi portal.

To obtain a residence or work permit, you must submit a passport, a good conduct certificate (hand fingerprints) from the country that issued the passport, and latest educational certificate in Arabic, or translated into Arabic. All documentation must be certified/attested through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Qatar Embassy in the country from which you applied. All original documents must be certified/attested through the embassy of your country followed by the Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

To complete the residence permit procedure, applicants must take a medical examination. To avoid waiting, an appointment can be booked in advance through the Ministry of Public Health's website . The medical examination results should be sent online to the Criminal Evidences and information Department, for the final stage of taking hand fingerprints. Once the process is completed and the authorities are satisfied with the application, the permit will be granted.

After receiving a residence permit, you can bring your wife and children to Qatar to live under your personal sponsorship. You must submit a salary certificate from your employer, birth certificates of children and a marriage certificate to the Foreign Ministry and the Embassy of Qatar in your country. You can also apply for a family visa at the Hukoomi portal .

Employee rights and obligations

After obtaining a residence permit, make sure you document your employment contract at the Ministry of Administrative Development, Labor and Social Affairs, and that the contract includes the job title, working hours, salary, and other privileges. This must be in Arabic because it is the approved language.

The Qatar Labor Law, prohibits working, paid or unpaid for another company or party during non-official working hours, unless written permission from your current employer is obtained. You can also open a bank account, to which your salary will be transferred as stipulated in the pay protection scheme. In addition, you can apply for a health card for each family member, which will give you free access to health services provided by the governmental facilities and hospitals. The health card can be renewed through Hukoomi portal. You can also register your children for a place at a government or international school, or one of the schools affiliated to your country. For more information about schools, visit the website of Ministry of Education and higher education.