By SOMAN BABY

BAHRAINIS and expatriates have been invited to take part in an online public debate on the Labour Market Regulatory Authority’s (LMRA) decisions on work visas and mobility of foreign workers.

The LMRA has prepared three decisions to regulate the procedure of work permits management and various transactions related to foreign labour.

The texts of the draft decisions have been published on the LMRA website: www.lmra.bh.

“This is done because of our firm belief in the value of public consultations,” said LMRA chief executive Ali Radhi.

“This is also in accordance with Act No (19) (2006) with regard to the Regulation of the Labour Market.

“The comments received from the public and stakeholders will be presented to the LMRA board for their final approval.”

Texts of the following draft decisions are available on the website:

l Draft decision with regard to regulation of work permits to foreign employees except domestic servants.

l Draft decision with regard to mobility of a foreign employee from one employer to another.

l Draft decision with regard to employers’ obligations in situations where a foreign employee abandons work in violation of the conditions of the work permit.

“While drafting the above decisions, LMRA was keen to adhere to just and clear criteria and principles in order to simplify procedures of all related transactions,” said Mr Radhi.

“LMRA relied on previous experiences and tried to avoid any shortcomings or deficiency.

Transparency

“We trust that the transparency methods pursued by LMRA will be appreciated by all parties concerned.”

Mr Radhi appealed to the public to send their comments or proposals online before May 17.

“Such comments are valuable for us as we prepare to issue work visas for all expatriates from July 1,” he noted.

“We are also going to implement some far-reaching decisions on the mobility of foreign employees from one employer to another.”

Mr Radhi said LMRA has been issuing a quarterly newsletter on its various decisions.

“Readers can find changes in Bahrain’s major market indicators,” he added.

“Our aim is to keep decision makers, stakeholders and researchers updated with the most recent changes.”