Over the past decade, reports of exploitation of migrant labor and even forced labor have increased. In 2014, international unions submitted a complaint to the ILO against the State of Qatar alleging that the country was failing to address workers’ rights violations.
After a period of intense negotiations, the State of Qatar and the ILO adopted and launched a program to support major labor reforms.
The measures taken have already improved the living and working conditions of hundreds of thousands of workers, but additional efforts are urgently needed so that all workers can benefit.
Previously, workers in Qatar needed their employer’s permission to change jobs — one of the most problematic elements of the kafala system that made workers overly dependent on their employers and led to exploitation. work.
Thanks to changes to the kafala system in 2020, workers can now change jobs at any time, after a notice period of up to two months. Migrant workers, including domestic workers, no longer need an employer-approved exit permit to leave the country.
More than 669,000 job change requests were approved between September 2020 and October 2023, with positive results for Qatar’s economy as a whole.