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.

No work permits, transfers from Dec 15

FYI people!!!! Get ready for the annual ministry shutdown.

No work permits, transfers from Dec 15 – Al-Kanderi:

Annual inventory being planned

KUWAIT CITY, Dec 8: Undersecretary of Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor Mohammed Al-Kanderi has said the ministry from Dec 15 will stop the issuance of work permits and transfers or receiving of applications from the government projects and sectors which are excluded from the deferment of transactions to pave the way for the annual inventory in all labor sectors, reports Al-Jarida daily. This normally, every year, affects all the private sector.

The daily quoting a reliable source added that activities in the labor sector will resume at the beginning of the New Year, as per Article 11 of Law 6/2010 that stipulates the ministry is allowed to suspend the issuance of work permits for more than two weeks for regulatory reasons.

Meanwhile, the labor departments will continue to receive first time work permit applications and renew residencies and cancel travel applications, the source added.

He assured the ministry will try to reduce the period of suspension to one week to avoid the interruption of work.

New Kuwait Labor Laws PDF

Since it's my only day off I thought I would catch up on some new things before I hit the sack. Here is the link to the updated Kuwait Labor Laws manual. It's a lot of reading so I will have to take my time reading it. I like to be up to date with regards to law although companies on Arifjan pick and choose which Kuwait laws they follow so we are SOL when it comes to rights. DO we go by Kuwaiti laws or U.S. laws? That's always the question.

I just want Kuwaiti holidays, please.

http://www.indiansinkuwait.com/press/KuwaitLaborLaw.pdf

I must say that the indiansinkuwait website is pretty good with news and links to Ministries.