By MOHAMMED AL A’ ALI

BAHRAIN’S biggest parliamentary bloc rounded on MPs yesterday for demanding restrictions to stop expatriate workers being given free rein to switch jobs.
The restrictions will actually harm businesses, rather than protecting them, said Al Wefaq bloc president Shaikh Ali Salman.
MPs voted last week to insist that expatriate workers must complete at least a year before being allowed to switch jobs.
They voted to amend a new law due to come into effect on August 1, which would allow expatriate workers to switch jobs without their existing employer’s permission.
Twenty-two MPs voted in favour of the amendment, while 15 of Al Wefaq’s 17 MPs voted against it.
One Al Wefaq MP abstained and another was absent.
“MPs only think about spending money on tickets and accommodations and then having the employee transfered after a month,” Shaikh Salman said at a Press conference at the bloc’s premises in Zinj yesterday.
“But they never thought that after a year the employee would be aware of all the business secrets when switching to another job.
“I know that MPs have good intentions, but they don’t have a thorough vision in this issue. If the government allows expatriates to switch jobs at any time, then Bahrainis will be the first choice.”
But he called for more restrictions on recruiting expatriates in the first place.
“Today, Bahrainisation in the private sector is 19 per cent and 81pc of our labour force are expatriates,” he said.
But, Shaikh Salman said that parliament did a right thing when it revolted over labour fees and unemployment tax.
MPs voted last week to freeze until January the BD10 monthly fee for every expatriate employee, levied on employers by the Labour Market Regulatory Authority.
They said the government should renegotiate with the employers, following a wave of protests over the fees.
MPs also voted to make the current compulsory unemployment insurance contributions voluntary, with the stipulation that those who don’t pay would not be covered by the scheme.
The vote over LMRA fees will now go to the Cabinet, while the decision over the unemployment tax will go before Shura Council, after it returns from the summer recess in October.
“The problem with the government is that it wants everything to be done at once, without doing things gradually, which is not in line with the dynamic way it should be working in,” said Shaikh Salman.
“It should have negotiated a timeframe with businessmen and labourers, but the government took all the steps together and now it will have to stop and listen.