Shepherd visa transfer

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Firstly, I would like to congratulate you for your endeavor in providing us expatriates an opportunity to discuss and get solutions to our legal problems. My question to you is as follows: I want to know whether, according to the New Unified Contract Law, it is possible to transfer a shepherd visa to another profession if we have completed one year. I have been trying to get an answer to this question but have failed to get any proper one so far.

Name withheld

Answer: No, you cannot if you have been in the country for only one year. Even if, however, you have completed the obligatory period for a transfer you can only do so to another firm of the same sponsor. Having a Unified Contract doesn’t change the requirements of the Immigration Department (Interior Ministry) for the various categories of expatriates in the country. People wrongly think otherwise. This means that you can change to another designation/profession with a local transfer under a work permit from your current sponsor… if he owns a firm. You can’t transfer to another sponsor. You can, however, transfer to another sponsor thereafter after completing one year in the firm of your sponsor. You will also be able to do this locally without having to leave the country. While on the subject the Unified Contract, we would like the clarify what this contract means so that expatriates don’t start thinking that things will be different or easier in any way. The aim of the Unified Contract is to make things easier for recordkeeping and also for all affected parties to understand all the articles in it. The Unified Contract has a total of 16 articles ( after mentioning the details of both the sponsor and the employee followed by a preamble which introduces the contract and mentions that both the parties have agreed on the articles that follow).

Article 1: only says that the preamble is part of the contract

Article 2: is on the nature of work to be performed by the employee plus the job title

Article 3: mentions that the probation period can be for a maximum of 100 days and that both parties have the right to terminate the contract during this period without any notification

Article 4: talks about the wage of the employee and also mentions the fact that the employer can’t reduce this wage for the duration of the contract.

Article 5&6: are on the contract term mentioning the starting date of the contract and also the duration besides mentioning the fact that both the parties will decide whether the contract is for a definite or indefinite term.

Article 7: talks about the duration of the annual leave also mentioning the fact it will not be due until after 9 months of the expiry of the contract. Please remember that this leave can’t be less than the 30 working days mentioned in the Kuwait Labor Law. The employer can, however, give more than 30 days if he so desires

Article 8: mentions that an employee can be made to work for a maximum of 8 hours a day, with a minimum rest period of one hour, except in cases allowed by the law

Article 9: details the fact that the employer will bear the expenses for the return of the employee to his country on the conclusion of the “work relationship” and final departure from the country

Article 10:stresses that it is obligatory for the employer to insure the employee against injuries and work maladies with the health insurance value to be in line with Law (1) of 1999

Article 11:talks about the end of service indemnity “as set in the regulating laws –meaning the Kuwait Labor Law

Article 12: says that the articles mentioned in the Kuwait Labor Law of 2010 and decisions to execute the same shall apply to this contract and all conditions agreed upon in this contract in violation of the above law are null and void unless these conditions benefit the employee

Article 13: talks about any “special conditions” of the contract but one has to remember that employer can’t give the employee less benefits than mentioned in the Labor Law although the employee can be given more than what is in the law.

Article 14: details that the Court of First Instance and its departments will be the competent authorities to tackle any conflict resulting from the execution or interpretation of the contract.

Article 15: mentions in what language the contract has been made, besides Arabic but stresses that the Arabic texts will prevail in case of any conflict between the languages.

Article 16: says the contract has been made in three copies with one each for the employer and the employee with the third going to the Public Authority for Manpower Now, after having talked of the above, it is important to look at the remarks of a Public Authority for Manpower official who made the following statements (which are self-explanatory) which leave no room for doubt that the Unified Contract only aims at “making things clear “ and does not enhance any benefits for expatriates.

Following is the statement : “The Unified Contract” will not override or add to the old contracts signed by the employer and employees. The new contract is just an extension of the old one in terms of the dues of the employee and years of service. “The new contract obliges the employer to include in the new contract any additional conditions and privileges agreed between the employer and employee such as annual travel ticket, house or transport allowance or any other privileges for the employee. “The main objective of the new contract is to boost awareness between the concerned parties on the labor obligations and rights while ensuring that the prevailing laws on the labor market are observed”. This official also stressed that the Unified Contract is based on the Kuwait Labor Law with all disputes to be settled according to this law. We are now sure that all our readers must be clear on the Unified Contract as we have tried to simplify matters but we would still welcome any more questions on the issue.

This news has been read 6765 times!