Ambassador of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the State of Qatar, Tarik Sadovic met on 16 March 2015 in Doha with the Minister of Labour and Social Affairs of Qatar, Abdullah bin Saleh Mubarak Al Khulaifi. The meeting was organized by the Diplomatic Institute of Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Qatar with the aim of informing foreign diplomats on the situation in the field of labor in Qatar. In his opening address to the diplomatic core, Minister Al Khulaifi said that the emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani declared the amended Labour Act as part of the reform of the labor market. The law obliges private companies to pay the salaries of all employees through an electronic transfer system with one of the financial institutions in the country. The companies will have six months to apply the new method of payment of workers’ wages. The purpose of the Act is to ensure that employers fully meet their obligations to pay workers’ salaries and benefits in accordance with the agreements and government regulations. He said that in 2014 the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs carried out a large number of inspections in companies to verify compliance with labor laws, followed by about 200 firms were prohibited from operating. He talked about the complaints made by the Ministry received during 2014, of which the majority was resolved “amiably”, and only a small number forwarded to court. He stresses that Qatar is committed to improve the situation in the area of work as the host of the World Football Championship in 2022. Ambassador Tarik Sadovic at the meeting with the Minister of Labour and Social Affairs Al Khulaifi talked about the problem of 30 workers from Bosnia and Herzegovina who have not yet collected their salaries. Both sides expressed confidence that the issue will soon be resolved.
