Gulf Cooperation Council States

During Ramadan, across the GCC work hours are shortened to as few as five hours and not more than six hours a day. Except if you are a domestic worker... which could mean even longer hours than the average 12-14 a day.

In the Gulf, an inaccurate but telling distinction is often made between expatriates and migrants. Asian employees in lower-income jobs are referred to as migrant workers, while those in higher income jobs are referred to as expatriates. Regardless of lexicon, they are all governed by the same set of repressive sponsorship (Kafala) laws. For the purpose of this story, we use ‘expats’ and ‘migrant workers’ interchangeably.

This January, the UAE’s Ministry of Labor issued three decrees regulating labor conditions.

Recognize the work and rights of migrants.

If you are a lower-income migrant worker in Qatar and find yourself in an unfavourable employment situation, the feeble system in place to ‘protect’ your rights will more often than not fail you.