Camp Arifjan contractor Lawsuits

Experts panel approve half of cases so far

KUWAIT CITY, Jan 7: About 50 percent of the cases filed by employees representing various contractors having contractual relationships with major concerns including Camp Arifjan have been approved by the Experts Committee under the Court of First Instance.

Lawyer Masaed J. Al Riyahi, who represents the employees and has been fighting their cases since the beginning of last year, was speaking to the Arab Times recently. The employees, who are mainly Westerners, have charged their contractors with labor law violations.

The contractors forced the employees to work up to 12 hours a day without adequate compensation as stipulated in the labor law, Al Riyahi added. “Many of the employees were made to work on public holidays without any extra pay.”

Al Riyahi said that he first approached the Ministry of Labor Affairs as per the norm; but when all attempts to hammer out an amicable settlement fell through, the ministry referred the cases to the Court of First Instance.

The court ordered Al Riyahi to present separate reports on all his clients with details of their salaries and the violations they suffered. The reports were then handed over to an Experts Committee in the court.
The committee has approved more than half of the reports, and is continuing to study the rest, Al Riyahi noted. The full study will be submitted to the court in the next 3 to 4 months. “There is a strong chance that the reports approved by the committee will be accepted by the court, and the employees will get a favorable verdict.”

Some cases pertaining to the lack of indemnity payment for employees who were terminated on grounds of taking their contractors to the court were also taken up by Riyahi. “Many contractors were ordered to pay up and some employees with more than 10 years’ service record received huge indemnities.”
Riyahi added that indemnity claims have to be made within a year from the date of termination. Even if the case is filed a day after the completion of one year, the court will dismiss it as invalid.

Watch out sponsor companies they are coming for you!

US-based firm does not follow Kuwait Labour Law

US-based firm does not follow Kuwait Labour Law:

I’m currently working for a US-based company at Arifjan in Kuwait under the sponsorship of a local firm. The company does not follow Kuwait Labour Law with regards to:
a) Overtime
b) No paid holidays / sick days
c) No indemnity upon separation
Can you give us information on the above, whether we are entitled to all the privileges mentioned.
There was also a certain case in one of Kuwait’s courts in which some Americans had sued a Kuwaiti firm over the same issue. I would like to have the contact details of the lawyer who is representing their case.

Name withheld
Answer: As you are employed by a Kuwaiti company and also working in Kuwait you are entitle to all the benefits mentioned in the Kuwait Labor Law, especially if you have Kuwait residence.
Earlier also, some Americans had sought advice from the Arab Times on the issue and the answer had been the same. Some of them had hired an attorney and their case was taken up by the Court of First Instance earlier this year. The firm will try to get away by saying they are American contractors. But the fact remains they are working in Kuwait with a Kuwaiti partner, so sue the Kuwaiti partner in Kuwait. But the most important fact here will be if those employees in the camp have Kuwait residency. A lot of the employees at the camp don’t have Kuwait residence, so they can have a problem in pursuing their case here in the country but not the ones who are residents of Kuwait.
The contractor can be sued and you should be able to get your rights. In the meantime, we will try to get you the contact details of the lawyer who took up the other case for some Americans.

Geez I wonder which company he works for? It used to be like that a few years ago with ITT, they would only follow Kuwait rules when it benefitted the company but now employees get the Kuwaiti sick hours and the payout when they finish their contract.

The girth of America

Ever since the cancellation of private vehicles on base people have been taking the bus from park and ride area. I can say that the average waisteline of the American people has expanded significantly. How did these people pass CRC? They have to realize we are riding on little Indian made buses which are not very big in the first place.

Yes, big people need love too and so forth but come on we all want to ride comfortably on the bus without having to worry about someone's butt cheek laying on top of you. Also for all of you heavy smokers eww! It's such a lovely aroma of ashtrays on the small bus. I had a woman sit beside me and her left butt cheek molded around my leg and elbow. BMI index anyone?

For all of you guys out there who think it's ok to push people in order to get on the bus you suck. The second night catching the bus left 40 or more people waiting to get on. It was a mad rush to the bus and grown men were pushing and shoving. Really guys? Chivalry is dead on Camp Arifjan.

So tonight we loaded up the bus because the driver said we would go to the park and ride. Even though I thought it was the wrong bus I also thought he was helping us out because we had been waiting in the dust for a bus. WRONG! He took us to the parking lot of the FN gate which is NO where near the park and ride. Thank goodness there was a line of buses going out so we caught a ride with one of the company buses. Damnit why do they shake their head yes when they have no idea what's going on?

The guys wanted to kick his butt but I just wanted to go home. The good ole' days of getting off at 6:30 are gone. Thanks FN guys for whining and complaining now we have to be late as hell to get home. I drive 180 and get home late so I can only imagine what time the bus riders get home. Long days of contracting.........

Back to Contracting

I've gone back to contracting. I've got schools to pay for so contracting is the only solution. I went back to a company I used to work for. It was nice to be back on base. I can once again shop for American stuff woohoo! Too bad we can't bring cars on, time to take the buses. I thought I was going to be in admin because that's what I'm good at and discussed with the admin DPM but once I do the in processing I'm told I will be going to the desert even though there were 2 openings in admin and the person they brought in was fresh from the states and knows nothing about Kuwait. Wow, thanks a lot.

I was put in the desert part of the base to track the incoming equipment. OMG! I'm delicate. Really I am when it comes to 120 degree weather in the open desert. So yesterday was my first day. No one advised me to wear sunscreen or wear long sleeves. Needless to say I got burnt to a crisp. I hate the sun and never go out in it. God made me white so I will stay white. I don't need skin cancer. If I wanted a tan I would spray one on from a bottle.

I also had on a red shirt so I just looked like a lobster. I was miserable. We were dropped off in the desert to track the vehicles. We were given a cooler of water that had no ice. We started at 8 a.m. and finished at 11. We were told we had no transportation back to the hut where our office is. I was barely hanging in. I was dragging along thinking I was going to die. I had a headache and was feeling sick. It was about a 35 minute walk back to the hut in the glaring heat.

We started walking. We don't have gators or any kind of internal transportation and the supervisor was doing another job so no car ride. The FN have gators and they have vans come and pick them up. Nice. I saw a white guy on a gator rolling toward us. I stuck up my hitchhiking thumb in hopes he would save us. He was a British guy and he gave us a ride back. My hero for the day.The a/c was out half of the day in the hut which meant no cooling down. I did start to tear up because I was in so much pain. I hid them under my sunglasses.

Everyone was like daaaamn! when they saw me. I was really sick. I came home and my family was shocked when they saw my face and arms. I took a shower and cried a little from the pain of the water hitting my arms. I thought about how the PM shot me down when I asked to be moved to the warehouse. The only thing he told me was that I should have worn long sleeves when he saw my arms. I've know this guy since 2005 before he was PM and he knows my husband, that's how I got the position and it was during the first phone call that I asked for an admin position and was told there would be openings.. I guess I thought he would treat me a little better but I learned real quick that's not going to happen. I had high hopes of working with the company and was happy when I got the job offer. But now my opinion has changed.

I found out a lot yesterday. There are people who are not getting visa 18 and the admin is really bad, yet they won't put me there even though I've done admin in Kuwait for over 7 years. They don't even pay as well as other companies and they expect the employees to get their own phone and lines, purchase work boots, hard hats and safety vests too. I had to wear some used hat that was too big for me. Yuck! There are also people off base who can't get their access badges, some for almost a year.

I'm still in pain now. I had a long sleeved shirt on today and my arms were still hurting. I don't know how I'm going to do it all over tomorrow. I was really disappointed to see no one really cared that I was in pain. They just want the job done. I'm all about working but when you feel you have no options and that no one really cares it makes the work days longer. I will head out tomorrow with sunblock, long sleeves, a hat and hope of surviving in the desert.

If anyone needs an admin person let me know lol