Knowledge Base Employees F.A.

Q
1)

My Employer is refusing to accept resignation notice, and my employer is holding back my passport or documents and refuses to hand it over.
Published on: 07-01-2008 02:09:55 PM

In order to make sure your employer or manager acknowledges receiving your resignation, they can sign a copy of it and give it back to the employee, or the employee can go to the post office and send it as registered mail. Please note that the Ministry of Labour is the relevant authority in charge of complaints or grievances against employers. More information: 1. The employment contract is binding to all those who signed it, the notice period as well as all other terms and conditions of the contract should be respected by both the employer and the employee as long as they are not contradicting with any law. In accordance with articles (106) & (107) of the Labour Act No. (23) 1976, if the contract is for a limited period, it expires at the end of the period. If the employee continued to work, with the consent of the employer, after expiry, the contract changes into a contract of unlimited period with all conditions therein. If the contract for an unlimited period, both the parties can terminate the contract by a one month notice in case of workers who receive their salaries monthly and 15days for other workers 2. Furthermore, after employee s resignation, employers must cancel the work permit and residence visa before the employee leaves the country. If they don't do this cancellation than they would be providing LMRA with wrong data on purpose (during our data cleansing process) and that is a violation to Act No. (19) (2006) with regard to the Regulation of the Labour Market. 3. Employers have no legal rights to hold employees passports. If the employee demands his passport back and the employer refuses to hand it over, employee should file a police case and report the incident to his embassy, the case could go to the court of urgent matters. 4. Without a court order, employees can not be banned from travelling outside the country by their employer or any other entity. 5. Article 23C or LMRA law also stipulates that It is prohibited for any person to receive any moneys or obtain any benefit or advantage (or privilege) from an employee for issuing him a work permit or in return for the employment of such an employee or his retention in his job You can find the Labour Act and the Market Regulation Act published on the website of the Ministry of Labour and LMRA website , respectively http://www.mol.gov.bh and http://www.lmra.bh

My Employer is refusing to accept resignation or notice

You need to go to the post office and send it as registered mail to the companys official address (this address must be the same physical address registered at the Ministry of Industry and Commerce http://www.moic.gov.bh/CReServices/inquiry/newCREnquiry.aspx - not a PO Box)

Knowledge Base Employees F.A.Q

Can LMRA interfere between the employee and the employer? Or help either party to get the other partys approval, delayed salary or a release letter etc.?
Published on: 07-01-2008 02:23:37 PM

Please note that LMRA does not interfere between the employee and the employer or ask employers to give release letters or any other documents. LMRA s role here is only advisory according to the laws of Bahrain, but if an employee needs to complain against their employer for any reason, they should contact the complaints department of the Ministry of Labour.

3) Knowledge Base Employees F.A.Q

What to do in the following case: The employer does not cancel an employee's work or residence permit or cancelling my RP while I'm in a holiday out of Bahrain.
Published on: 07-01-2008 02:15:53 PM

All the acts mentioned in the above situations are illegal practices. GDPNR is the relevant authority for residence permits and all the concerned foreign workers should revise GDPNR in all matters regarding their residents visas. LMRA is the relevant authority for the issuance and renewal of work permits and all related matters. It is to be noted that taking money from employees for the issuance of work permits or for their continuation in their jobs is a violation to Article (23) of the Labour Market Regulation Act No. (19) (2006). The law provides severe penalties for persons convicted on such crimes. Please check Article (36) of the Act at LMRA website. Canceling the RP without the awareness of the employee is also a violation of the current Labour and LMRA laws and regulations.

4) Knowledge Base Employees F.A.Q

What are the procedures for locally transferring employment from one employer to another.
Published on: 07-01-2008 02:18:43 PM

Employees who obtain a new offer from another employer need to go with the new employer (or his legal representative) to the Ministry of Labour and apply for a local transfer (until 30 June 2007) and (at LMRA from July 2008) if the transfer case and the employer satisfy all the required conditions the transfer will be approved. Generally speaking: a "no objection letter" (NOC Letter) from previous employer is required, but there are cases where the transfer can be done without this no objection letter (NOC Letter) from previous employer, provided that there are no other contractual or legal rights on the employee for that employer. In the process of changing the Sponsorship / Employment during the Amnesty period which is regulated by the Ministerial decision No. (72)-2007. The period started on 1st August 2007 and continues till 31st January 2008, the local transfer may be done without the consent of the previous employer in the following situations: Expiry of the employment contract. Expiry of the employee s residence visa and employer did not apply for renewal. The worker is not registered as a run away and doesn t work with the current employer. (Only during the amnesty period ending 31 January 2008) Bankruptcy or liquidation of the establishment. The establishment does not exist anymore. If the current employer refused the transfer the worker for unjustified reasons. In all cases of transfer without a no objection letter (NOC Letter) from previous employer, the new employer should write and enclose a letter mentioning that they could not obtain that no objection letter (NOC Letter) from previous employer even after officially contacting them and giving them a timely notice.

Knowledge Base Employees F.A.Q

My employer is not cancelling my RP even after I have resigned.
Published on: 07-01-2008 02:17:57 PM

Residents' Permits (RP) are not within the jurisdiction of LMRA. The General Directorate for Nationality, Passports & Residence (GDNPR) is the relevant authority. Employees can report this case to the GDNPR. Also Refer to Q1. Item No. 3 above.

What to do if The employer didn't cancel an employee's work visa or residence permit/visa even after the employee has resigned and his resignation had been acknowledged?
Employers have no gain from such a violation of not cancelling the employees RP after his / her resignation; furthermore they will be charged LMRAs monthly fees on those work visas and they will not be able to get a replacement until they cancel those visas through the system. If the employee is in Bahrain and he/she can apply for his mobility (transfer) without the need to cancel the existing permit. For more information about the mobility process, click on the following link:

NEWS
Bahrain: Migrant Workers Denied Pay, Right to Travel Government Should Protect Workers from Employer Abuse November 4, 2009 More Coverage: More Human Rights Watch reporting on Bahrain Withholding wages and confiscating passports appears to be rampant, but the authorities do nothing to stop it. There is no system to make sure these vulnerable migrant workers can actually recover both their passports and wages, let alone to punish the abusive employers. Joe Stork, deputy Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch

(New York) - Bahrain's Labor Ministry should hold employers who withhold wages and passports from migrant employees accountable, Human Rights Watch said today. Both practices are illegal under Bahraini law, but authorities do little to enforce compliance. In one recent case, on October 6, 2009, Muhammad Naseer, an Indian citizen, filed a complaint with the Labor Ministry alleging that his employer and sponsor had refused to pay him nearly four months of back wages and withheld his passport, preventing him from returning home. The Labor Ministry helped him retrieve his passport but not the pay, and he returned to India on October 26 without it. Another worker at the same company told Human Rights Watch that the company owes him and at least 28 other workers wages for three months. At another company that sponsors migrant workers, eight employees say they have not been paid for five months. "Withholding wages and confiscating passports appears to be rampant, but the authorities do nothing to stop it," said Joe Stork, deputy Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch. "There is no system to make sure these vulnerable migrant workers can actually recover both their passports and wages, let alone to punish the abusive employers." Instead of enforcing the law, as it is authorized to, the government steers workers into an arbitration system that favors employers, Human Rights Watch said. In Naseer's case, the company rebuffed his requests for his back wages, his brother, Bashir, told Human Rights Watch. Naseer, a husband and father of two, then told his employer that he would need to return to India to find work and support his family. Naseer borrowed from friends for an airline ticket, but was unable to use it because the sponsor refused to return his passport or approve his travel.

After Naseer sought the help of the Indian embassy and filed a formal complaint with the Labor Ministry, it called an arbitration meeting between with the company. "The Ministry told my brother he could either go to court to try to recover his wages or get his passport back and leave the country," said Bashir. Naseer, who only speaks Malayalam, decided he was unable to go to court, where he would have faced a potentially lengthy and costly legal battle with no income and little hope of prevailing. He felt he had little option but to sign a settlement letter, written in English, in which he waived all legal claims against his employer in exchange for his passport and authorization to leave the country, his brother said. Marietta Dias, who works for the Migrant Labor Protection Society in Bahrain, told Human Rights Watch that Naseer's case is not unusual. "The Ministry of Labor has the authority to arbitrate such cases but not to compel the employer to comply with the law," she said. "If the employer doesn't agree to settle the case, then the ministry can only send it to the labor court." Under the current arbitration system, an employer can force litigation by refusing the Ministry of Labor's request to settle. Dias said that most workers cannot afford lawyer fees or the loss of income, and so they have little choice but to accept highly unfavorable settlements. If the employer doesn't show up at an arbitration meeting after it is scheduled three times, the Labor Ministry automatically refers a case to the court. "Employers know if they do not show up then the case will probably go away," Dias said. The employee at the same company, who alleges the company still owes him and at least 28 other workers three months in back wages, said they received only one month's pay. The company tried to get the unpaid workers to sign documents affirming receipt of full payment, but they refused, the employee said. Some workers have also alleged that the owner of the company physically assaulted an employee for requesting back wages, allegations the employer denies, according to Construction Week magazine, published in Dubai. On October 24, another 38 migrant workers at another company held a demonstration outside the Indian Embassy in Manama claiming that their employer has failed to pay them for five months, Construction Week and the Bahrain-based Gulf Daily News reported. Workers reportedly filed a complaint against their employer with the Ministry of Labor and assault charges with the local police. Several recent news reports say that employers blame the global credit crunch for their failure to pay workers. Article 302 of the Bahraini penal code makes it illegal for an employer to withhold wages in full or in part, and authorizes the government to prosecute abusive employers. While Bahraini law also forbids employers from holding on to migrant worker passports, the Migrant Worker Protection Society maintains that the practice is widespread.

"We keep asking the government to prosecute but have not seen anything yet," Dias said. She added that authorities also rarely prosecute employers for withholding payments. "Bahrain portrays itself as a regional leader in migrant labor rights, but the government has some way to go before it really earns that reputation," Stork said. "It should start by actually enforcing its own law."

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MOBILITY

In accordance with Act No. (19) Of 2006, Article No.25 and its amendments as well as and Resolution No. (79) For 2009 with regards to regulating the procedures for foreign workers mobility (local transfer) to another employer. Here are the procedures and conditions set out below: 1. Mobility is also referred to as local transfer, the process by which the expat employee can join another employer without the need to cancel his/her existing permit / visa and without the need to travel out of the kingdom of Bahrain. 2. It is to be noted that the mobility process is only available while the foreign employees permit / visa is still valid for at least 3 months. 3. The Mobility will be processed as per the law: (Article 25 of Act 19 for 2006 and its amendments), with or without the consent of the employees old (current) employer, depending on the case.  Note: If applying for mobility, without the consent of the old (current) employer, the employee needs to have completed at least 12 months of service with the same employer before a new employer can apply for his / her mobility (For applications submitted on or after the 23rd of July 2011) 4. Once the mobility application has been processed, the old (current) employer would be credited with the unused remaining period of the work permit as a credit note in the system. 5. If the consent of the employees old (current) employer is obtained electronically in the EMS system
through the allow mobility function, OR the employer had given the employee a No Objection Letter , the transfer will be instant (no need to wait for any period of time or complete 12 months of service) and the employer would be instantly credited with the unused remaining period of the work permit as a credit note in the system, but where there is an agreement between the old and the new employer to credit the new employer such agreement must be uploaded in the system at time of mobility application submission.

6. Expat employees with expired permits cannot transfer (apply for new work permit while in Bahrain) after the permits expiration unless they have already registered their Mobility Intention at least 30 days before the permit / visa expiry. 7. Expat employees with cancelled or terminated permits need to apply for a new work permit (Not for Mobility) after registering their Intention at LMRA within 5 days of the old permits cancellation.  Note: In case of permit expiry or termination / cancellation (and if the intention has been registered) the employee has 30 days from the cancellation or expiry date in order to obtain a new permit / visa on the new employer, otherwise he /she needs to travel out of the country first, before the new employer can apply for him / her.

8. The Mobility Intention registration is done at LMRA customer services on the ground floor at LMRAs headquarters in Sanabis. Requirements: 1. The new employer needs to logon to LMRAs EMS system and complete the electronic mobility application form (as per the information in the passport and other related documents). 2. A copy of the passport of the Expat (foreign employee), including all the pages containing the personal information (example: Pages 1 and 2), as well as (Only for the Nationals of India and Pakistan) the page that has the names of the father / mother or husband / Wife Example: Page 36. 3. The passport must be valid for at least period of 6 months (and preferably valid for two years). 4. A copy of the foreign employees CPR. 5. A copy of the job offer letter or contract between the new employer and foreign employee (one or two pages Max.) On the companys letterhead or a government official paper. It must include the following information: "The Names of the employer and the foreign employee, passport number, Nationality, job role (occupation) of the employee, salary, employment and notice periods. This job offer letter should be signed by the employer and the employee and bear the seal / stamp of the employer. It should state that the offer is subject to successful application of the work visa. 6. If the employee has dependents in Bahrain, provide a copy of their passports and CPR cards too (Wife and children). 7. For certain specialized occupations , you need the approval letter / no-objection certificate from relevant authority (approval must be as recent as possible and should not be older than 6 months) as follows:  Engineers and engineering jobs: Approval from the Ministry of Works Committee for the organization of engineering practices.  For banking and insurance companies managers: Approval from the Central Bank of Bahrain CBB.  For mosques and Maatams / Husainneyas: Approval from the Ministry of Justice and endowments Awqaf  For medical professionals: approval from the Ministry of Health.  For education related occupations in the private sector: Approval of the Ministry of Education. 8. And in the absence of consent of the old (current) employer in the system, (through the "allow" mobility option), in addition to the above requirements you need to provide:  The letter of resignation and notice (as per the labour law and /or the employment agreement between them) addressed to the current employer by the employee who wants to move.  Post office registered mail notification card (pink card) / slip for the resignation / notice letter sent by the foreign employee to his/her old (current) employer.  The notice must be send to the employers physical address registered in the CR (as per the Ministry of Industry and Commerce) and not to a P.O box or mailing address. Search the MOICs site for details http://www.moic.gov.bh.  Notice must be sent to the employer within the specified period of notice for the termination of the employment contract in accordance with the provisions of the labour law for the private sector (not exceeding three months) from the date specified for the mobility. The notice period can vary from the minimum of 30 days to the maximum of 90 days.

In case the notice period is less than 90 days, you need to upload the notice page of the employment agreement between the employee and the old employer.

Steps and Rules: A - In the case of the foreign worker transfer without the consent of the old employer: 1. The foreign worker must have completed at least 12 months of service with the current (old) employer. 2. The foreign worker must first notify his employer of his intention to leave by a registered post letter during the specified notice period of the employment contract termination in accordance with the provisions of the labour law as per the employment contract between the parties. Notice should not exceed three months from the date set for the mobility application. 3. The second (new) employer makes a mobility request / application to LMRA prior to the date set for the mobility by one month, providing all the required documents as mentioned above. 4. The first (old) employer will be compensated with the fees of the remaining period of the work visa validity. B - In the case of the foreign workers mobility with the consent of the current employer: 1. With the mutual agreement of both employers, the new employer makes a mobility application at LMRA, providing all the required documents. 2. Using LMRAs online system, the first employer allows the workers mobility; the worker will be transferred after the payment of the fees. C - In the case of mobility at the end of the work visas validity or the cancellation of the workers work visa: 1. The worker seeking mobility needs to notify LMRA as detailed below- this is done by personally visiting LMRAs customer service department:  Before Thirty days of the expiration date of his work visa OR  After the expiration or cancellation of the work visa within a period not exceeding five working days from the date of the cancellation, notification or from signing the clearance. 2. The worker would be given Thirty days (calendar days) to enable him to make the transfer to another employer, during which he is prohibited from engaging in any work, the first employer will not be allowed to renew this workers work visa. 3. After the worker submits his mobility notification at LMRA, the (new) employer submits a new work visa application for the foreign worker. D - In all mobility cases (except C above) 1. The worker continues to work for the first employer; and his due monthly fees shall be paid for until the approval of the mobility application and the new employers payment of the new work visa fees. 2. The new employer commits to pay the new work permit fees within thirty days from the date of the mobility approval; otherwise the approval will be declined. 3. The foreign worker would not be allowed to mobilize / transfer in the following cases:

- In the cases mentioned in Article 25 paragraph (b) of Act No.(19) 2006 with regards to the regulation of the labour market:       If the worker ceases to comply with one or more of the conditions for issuing the permit. If a final criminal judgment is passed against the worker for a felony or a crime that violates honor or honesty. If the worker violates the terms under which his work permit was issued. If the new employer does not have the required Bahranization quotas or has a violation which prevents him from applying for mobility. If the worker has a violation which prevents his mobility. If the date of the mobility request falls within the last three months of the validity of the work visa. (In the case of the foreign workers mobility without the consent of the his employer)

Time taken to decide on the request: LMRA issues the approval decision within 3 working days from the date of fulfilling all the approvals of the concerned agencies and all the relevant information, data, documents and the required conditions and the approval from the concerned authorities to grant residence permit in the kingdom. The start of the validation of the statement will be after the payment of the fees within 30 days from the date of the approval.

Notes: The employer may pay the fees electronically via the website or personally at LMRA.