By Soman Baby
INDIAN EMBASSY officials are filing more than 120 complaints a month against rogue employers in Bahrain.
The figure was revealed by Indian Ambassador Balkrishna Shetty, as he vowed that the embassy would continue blacklisting companies which exploit Indian workers by defying Bahrain’s labour law.
By soman Baby
MORE than half the estimated nearly 400,000 expatriate workers in Bahrain have not yet been properly registered by their employers.
This is what is causing delays for employers trying to get work visas, says the Labour Market Regulatory Authority.
A CONSTRUCTION company in Bahrain has called for an investigation after one of its workers was allegedly wrongly jailed as a runaway.
Bangladeshi Sarwar Saker spent 10 days in Jaw Prison after being summoned to the General Directorate of Nationality, Passports and Residency (GDNPR), when his employers applied to extend his residence permit (RP).
By SOMAN BABY
MORE than 40 per cent of applications for work visas submitted to the Labour Market Regulatory Authority (LMRA) last month were rejected, it was revealed yesterday.
During its first month of operations, the LMRA issued 423 work visas, said LMRA e-services and public relations manager Waheed Al Balushi.
I would like to ask the Labour Market Regulatory Authority (LMRA) and the Labour Ministry for their advice on the following matter. I am an expatriate worker and I have resigned from my current employer. According to the contract, they are liable to deduct the visa, CPR and air ticket expenditure from me for employment in Bahrain.
This expenditure, according to my knowledge through some very reliable sources, is BD250 to BD300, since I did not come through any recruitment consultant. Nevertheless, the management is claiming BD600-BD700.
By SOMAN BABY
A BAHRAINI MP and economist has called on the Labour Market Regulatory Authority (LMRA) to publish monthly figures of the millions of Bahraini dinars in fees collected from the private sector.
Dr Jassim Hussain said such a move is important to maintain the transparency of the organisation.
NOW that the labour market standardisation is happening, lets also set some standards for the employers.
We need to ensure that all employees have a proper job contract given by the company. The job contract should include the mandatory clauses of salaries, benefits, holidays, overtimes, medical insurance, allowances, job specifications, etc.
MANAMA
A GOVERNMENT decision to grant ‘walk-in visas’ to Indian nationals has been welcomed by the Bahrain India Society (BIS).
Society chairman Abdulnabi Al Sho’ala sent a letter of thanks to Interior Ministry Under Secretary for Nationality, Passports and Residence, Shaikh Rashid bin Khalifa Al Khalifa.
By SOMAN BABY
A NEW levy on expatriate employees will pump BD3 million a month into Bahrain’s coffers.
The Labour Market Regulatory Authority (LMRA) will raise the money through the monthly levy of BD10 for each expatriate worker employed by the private sector.
First it was the Labour Ministry, with its weird policies that destroyed several small and medium size businesses in this country. Now it is the turn of the LMRA labour market to do the same.
Our company applied for 20 workers with the Labour Ministry along with all relevant documents showing jobs in hand etc, but they said they could give us work permits for only eight workers, that too if we hired about nine Bahrainis.