+ A
A -
Tribune News Network
Doha
The Emir HH Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al Thani on Sunday issued a comprehensive human resources (HR) law covering all aspects of employment from appointment to annual leave, retirement and end-of-service benefits.
As per the provisions of the law, Qatari citizens are to be given priority in appointments for government and public sector jobs. After citizens, priority is to be given to children of Qatari women married to non-Qataris, non-Qatari spouses of Qatari citizens, nationals of other GCC countries, Arab expatriates and other nationalities, in that order.
In all cases, the appointment of non-Qatari employees will be made only through employment contracts.
The service of an employee will end on attainment of the age of 60, end of the contract, resignation, medical incapacity, disciplinary dismissal, dismissal by decision from the Prime Minister for reasons related to public interest, issuance of a final judgment against the employee for a crime in breach of honour or honesty, relinquishment of the Qatari citizenship and death.
An employee may remain on job even after attainment of the retirement age only in consideration of public interest. In such a case, the authority concerned is required to issue the extension decision which must be on year-by-year basis, not exceeding five years. The PM shall issue a decision to extend the service of the employee after the 5-year limit if required. The extension of the service of under-secretaries shall be given through an Emiri Decree.
An employee is considered to have resigned if he/she stops showing up for work without permission for 15 consecutive days (even if this happens after a legitimate leave). If an employee takes leave for a non-consecutive period exceeding 30 days without permission of the employer, the service will be considered as terminated on the day following the completion of this period.
A Qatari employee who has spent at least one year working for the government entity shall be entitled to an end-of-service benefit that will be as follows: a basic salary of one month for every year of the first five years, a basic salary of one month and a half for every year of the next five years and a basic salary of two months for what exceeds that.
THE end of service benefit for the non-Qatari employee must be counted on the basic of one month salary for each year out of the years of service, subject to a maximum limit of 10 months.
For grade 13, the beginning salary scale would be QR2,200 and the ending salary scale is QR3,000. For the excellent grade, the beginning salary scale is QR43,000 and the ending salary scale is QR50,000.
The weekly working days, working hours and the public holidays and organisation of work during such days will be determined by a Cabinet resolution. An employee may go on leave only after getting an approval.
In the event where the interval between two public holidays is one working day, it will be considered as a day off.
An employee is entitled for periodic leave, incidental leave, sick leave, accouchement leave, maternity leave, Hajj leave, marriage leave, Shariah Iddat leave (waiting period after which a divorcee woman or a widow can remarry), bereavement leave, leave to accompany a spouse, Muharram (unmarriageable person) leave, leave for accompanying a patient, exceptional leave, study leave, examinations leave and unpaid leave.
The employee will be entitled to a periodic leave on an annual basis, with total salary, in accordance with the following: 45 days for the employees who hold positions of the seventh grade or above or the equivalent in salary; 40 days for the employees who hold positions of the eighth to the tenth grade or the equivalent in salary; and 30 days for the employees who hold positions of other grades or the equivalent in salary
The employee will be entitled for a periodic leave during the year, which shall be calculated in proportion to the period during which he/she worked in the year.
If public holidays or sick days have fallen during the periodic leave, the same number of days shall be added to his/her leave.
Notwithstanding the provisions hereof, the Council of Ministers shall issue a decision to regulate the periodic leave for the government entities in which the nature of work during the year requires a special regulation.
The employee shall be entitled to an incidental leave, in case of emergency, for a period not exceeding seven days per year. The employee who is absent from work due to sickness, must report to the closest medical authority for examination and obtaining the necessary sick leave report. The employee shall provide his/her employer with a medical report.
The employee shall be authorised to take a sick leave for a period not exceeding three consecutive working days at a time and up to a maximum of 10 working days in a year. If the leave exceeds this period, the report must be referred to the competent medical authority for approval.
In case of sickness, the employee shall be granted a sick leave for a period not exceeding one fully paid year. If he/she has not recovered, the competent medical authority may grant him/her a sick leave for a period not exceeding another year during which he/she will receive half salary.
If the competent medical authority considers that he/she is incurable and unfit to carry on with his/her job, the employee shall be retired for being medically unfit, if he/she is a Qatari, and his/her service shall be terminated if he/she is a non-Qatari.
If the employee exhausts all his/her sick leaves set forth in the previous article without being cured, he/she may use the balance of his/her periodic leave. An employee who has suffered a work-related illness or injury shall be granted a sick leave with total salary for a period not exceeding two years, which shall not be deducted from his/her periodic or sick leave entitlements.
If this period elapses without improvement in the medical condition, he/she will be referred to the competent medical authority for diagnosis. If the employee is not a Qatari and is found not recovering, his/her service shall be terminated. If the employee is Qatari, he/she shall be granted a fully paid sick leave for another one year then shall be referred to retirement for being medically unfit.
A female employee shall be granted fully paid accouchement leave, for two months and days will not be deducted from other leaves, provided she submits a supporting medical report or a true copy of the birth certificate. Accouchement leave shall be for three months in case of giving birth to twins.
In all cases, the female employee shall be entitled to her balance of periodic leaves along with her accouchement leave.
The Chairman shall grant the Qatari female employee a leave to look after her disabled children based on report from the competent medical authority for a maximum of five years.
A Muslim employee will be granted for once, throughout his/her service in the state, a 21-day fully paid leave to perform the Hajj. This leave shall not be deducted from the periodic leaves due to the employee. An employee shall be granted for once, throughout his/her functional service in the state, a fully paid marriage leave for 15 days, provided he/she submits a true copy of the marriage certificate.
