The Wage Protection System law has been in Gulf countries for some time, but recently governments began putting pressure on companies to make sure they abide by the provisions. Failure to comply with the law will result in human right violation issues which could impair the country’s reputation in the international community, and so particularly the government of Qatar seeks to tighten laws and take a firm stand to protect employee wages. Here is how the ministry of labor and social welfare regulates the new WPS. The government has invented a workflow that makes Wages Protection System in Qatar easily tractable though it can be a very complicated process.
The employer
To begin with, the employer is obliged to employ only those with Qatar permits or work visas. The number of employees must tally the number of the persons given employment visas in the name of the company. If this is not followed, the company might lose its status and right to employ foreign labor. At the end of the month or in due payment times, the employ must send to his bank an SIF and payroll funds instruction to initiate the payment process. The SIF must contain the SIF HR information, passports, Qatar ID, expiration dates, work details, work hours and job description, deductions, and the total salary to be paid to the employee and IBANs. IBANs is the acronym for “international bank number” that facilitates employees to be able to access their funds from anywhere else around the world.
Employers’ Bank
The moment the employers’ bank receives the SIF file and employees’ payroll funds instructions, the bank must ensure that the payment process is not delayed beyond the stipulated time by the Qatar WPS. The bank must see to it that all relevant information and SIF are sent to the Qatar Central Bank in full and in the accepted format.
The Qatar Central Bank
The Qatar CentralBank shall be obliged to review all the SIF, and the payroll details to see to it that the right amount agreed upon is deposited into the employees’ bank account. The central bank must send all details of payments and transaction process to the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs.
The Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare
The ministry of labour and social Affairs, MoLSA in short, reviews all payment details. They do a trackback to check if WPS formalities are followed and there are no discrepancies. In case, there are some inconsistencies, the MoLSA shall take action against the employee based on the Qatar Wage Protection System Law.
What if the employee does not have a bank account?
Well, all employees must have a bank account; otherwise, the whole workflow is distorted. However, in the case of a newly employed person, the employee must go straight to the employer’s bank to withdraw his amount in the form of a cheque. The employee must then be able to present all check details and payments to the Ministry of Labor upon request.