‘Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor Undersecretary Mohammad Al-Kandari has reiterated the need to transfer the salaries of workers to their personal bank accounts on time, reports Al-Shahid daily. In a press statement recently, Al-Kandari revealed the ministry has formed a team tasked to follow up the issue to ensure strict compliance among employers and to protect the rights of workers” (Arab Times, Feb 17 2010).
According to recent news reports, the new Labor Law will take effect in a couple of weeks. So, it is important that the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor starts carrying out the new labor procedures so we can stop all kinds of possible exploitation that may be leveled against some expatriate workers. Doing so, besides providing more legal protection to workers, it will also bring us closer to transform Kuwait into a regional financial and commercial hub.

Our local economy depends almost entirely on the expatriate work force. Therefore, it is logical that such individuals should enjoy more legal protections. Their efforts in running and managing large sectors of our local economy should encourage us to make life for them less difficult. Actually, transforming Kuwait into a more welcoming environment for expatriate workers will certainly allow us to start a swift and a harmonious transformation of our local economy to cope with recent developments in the global economy.
The current global economic system emphasizes less interference by government agencies in local economies. It also requires that the daily life and movement of workers should not be made difficult or restricted due to either outdated emigration procedures or any other bureaucratical obstacles! Basic requirements for work entail good pay, safe and healthy working conditions... etc. Such requirements underline “decent work” as defined and encouraged by the International Labor Organization.

For example, if an expatriate worker in Kuwait feels more at home he or she will become more productive, more cooperative, and indeed more grateful! Many of these people spent most of their life in Kuwait. Some were born and raised in Kuwait. Therefore, they share with us native citizens so many cultural values and ethics.
Many expatriate workers contact me through either the phone or email. They usually explain some of the difficulties they encounter in Kuwait.

Their demands for more legal clarifications and sometimes assistance range from asking how to get a driving license to how to comply with any recent procedures...etc. Some of the present traffic regulations tend to confuse prerequisites and the actual qualifications relating to obtaining driving licenses, for example. In addition, what I get from talking with such hard working expatriates is that many of them consider Kuwait their second home. Actually, many of the expatriate population know more about Kuwait and its history than their own homeland!
Employers need to comply with the procedures of the Ministry of Social Affairs relating to workers’ salaries. Subsequently, this will guarantee more compliance on the part of the worker.  By doing so, employers will certainly receive more respect, appreciation and more hard work!  

Your View:
“Kudos, Mr Khaled, on your editorial “Stop condemning Valentine’s Day”!  You read my mind and phrased my own thoughts as I was reading a front-page condemnation of Valentine’s Day two days earlier... As you said in your article, the holiday has absolutely no religious value in Christianity other than spreading the message of love which I think is the basis of all religions” (ER)
“I myself was born in Kuwait in the early fifties, my children too are born in Kuwait and I have gone door to door trying to get a driver’s license for my 18 year old daughter, who is studying in Kuwait, I have failed. Any different law for children born and studying in private schools in Kuwait”(RK).

khaledaljenfawi@yahoo.com