Qatar Vows '100% Compliance' On Key Labour Reform

DOHA, Nov 2, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 02nd Nov, 2016 ) - Qatar said it expects "100 percent compliance" from businesses by the end of 2016 on a labour reform introduced to ensure the country's vast migrant workforce receive their salaries on time.

Government figures released in Doha on Wednesday to mark the one-year anniversary of the introduction of the Wage Protection System (WPS) show that 1.8 million -- around 85 percent -- of Qatar's 2.1 million workforce are now paid electronically.

That works out at around 37,000 companies. But a senior labour ministry official told AFP that all companies will sign up to the scheme by the end of December.

"Our aim is to have 100 percent compliance by the end of the year," said Mohammed Ali Al-Meer, the director of Qatar's labour inspection department.

"We have a commitment from the (remaining) 15 percent, we have contacted them." The WPS was introduced on November 2 last year by the 2022 football World Cup host in an attempt to improve labour conditions following widespread international criticism of Qatar's treatment of migrant workers.

Failure to pay salaries on time, especially for low-waged blue collar workers, was one of the biggest complaints voiced by rights groups against companies in the energy-rich Gulf state.