A de facto NOC in Qatar?

Four months since Qatar announced the removal of the No-objection Certificate (NOC) to change jobs, certain old and exploitative practices persist. But the growing backlash against the reforms is a cause for concern, as the government attempts to allay the fears of its citizens and their businesses.

In the Shura Council’s first meeting of this year, Labour Minister Yousuf bin Mohamed al-Othman Fakhro assured council members that - Opens in new tab “the transfer of sponsorship has rules, controls, and procedures that will preserve the rights of all parties” and that “the number of workers who requested a transfer is few and that those whose requests were approved are smaller.” That was not the only comment to raise doubts on the implementation of the reforms. He also stressed that while the law allowed workers to submit a request to change employers, it was still “subject to approval or rejection after communicating with the concerned parties.”

Over the last few months, MRRORS.org (MR) has spoken to dozens of workers seeking to change jobs and provided them with guidance on the procedures. Initially, these procedures were simple and straightforward (see leaflets at the end of this report) and in most cases, could be completed in four steps all carried out online on the Ministry of Administrative, Labour and Social Affairs (ADLSA)’s website - Opens in new tab: 

• Fill out an e-notice form - Opens in new tab; 
• Submit the interest for changing jobs online, which also served as a notice to current employer; 
• Once this form is assessed, the worker receives an SMS that either states the date on which the notice period ends, or an SMS that rejects the request; 
• If successfully processed, then at the end of the notice period the new employer simply has to carry out the process issuing the contract and a new QID.

The reasons for rejection that we encountered either owed to cases filed by the current employer (such as absconding or theft) or because the potential new employer has pending cases.

Furthermore, the e-notice site is difficult to access at most times. Both MR and workers had attempted to use it at different times of a day over two weeks, with little success.

A worker now has to show a paper trail (which requires several stamps and approvals from the current employer) and attempt to change jobs by applying physically at labour offices. 

MR Spoke to informal community groups and officials at embassies of countries of origin who all echo similar concerns. In fact, they now advise workers, especially domestic workers, to continue in their current employment if they are paid on time and there is no threat to life, as the alternative may throw workers in greater jeopardy.

Domestic Workers

Leaving a workplace, which, in the case of domestic workers, is also their home, may result in absconding charges which are difficult to clear. Absconding charges also often result in detention and deportation. The unofficial shelters that most embassies run for women are unable to accommodate migrants in large numbers, so they dissuade those wishing to leave their homes from doing so. Qatar does have a shelter for trafficking victims, but it does not receive drop-in cases and does not accommodate domestic workers in general. During the pandemic, it did accommodate a couple of dozen workers referred mainly by embassies, however, the shelter itself does not provide services to help redress grievances of workers.

"...they now advise workers, especially domestic workers, to continue in their current employment if they are paid on time and there is no threat to life, as the alternative may throw workers in greater jeopardy."

Still early days

As Qatar continues to implement these significant reforms and gets past the teething issues, it is important to see how the system serves the most marginalised and to make sure that it does not fail those most in need. 

Domestic workers who struggle to access official mechanisms during the best of times are likely to be excluded from the full benefits of these reforms if the state does not put in place procedures specific to this target group. These procedures must take into consideration the restrictions on mobility and language barriers that domestic workers face.

While concerns of the SME sector and employers must be addressed, it must not come at the cost of workers’ mobility. A resignation letter signed by the employer is a de facto NOC.

With Qatar Visa Centres - Opens in new tab in origin countries resuming operations, businesses will be able to recruit as per their needs both from overseas and within the local labour market. This may go some ways towards ensuring there are no new obstacles placed in the path of effective implementation of these laws.