17 March 2013 – The Philippine Embassy in Manama, Bahrain, hosted a Forum with officials from Bahrain’s Labour Market Regulatory Authority (LMRA) lastf March 13 at the Embassy premises.
Titled “Forum with the labour market regulatory authority on labor and other matters affecting Filipino workers in the Kingdom,” the event was organized by the Philippine Embassy, in coordination with the LMRA.
In attendance were Embassy officials led by Philippine Ambassador to the Kingdom of Bahrain Sahid S. Glang, and the officers and members representing the various Filipino community organizations in Bahrain. The Bahrain LMRA was represented by its Chief Executive Officer Mr. Ausamah A. Al Absi and LMRA Coordination Manager Mr. Ahmed Alkhabbaz.
The Forum provided a venue for discussion of labor-related issues and concerns, including the issues of overstaying illegal workers, expatriate levies, labor mobility and visa transfers, withholding of employees passports, travel bans, temporary work visas, and employer/employee obligations, among other issues.
In his welcome remarks, Ambassador Glang noted that the last forum held between the Filipino community and the LMRA took place in 2009. He stated that the forum was a perfect opportunity for the Embassy and the Filcom to convey the Filipino workers’ feedback to the LMRA on its policies and procedures. Ambassador Glang also hoped that the forum would be a mechanism to link the Filipino community directly to the LMRA in a more interactive manner, in order to be guided and informed of developments in Bahrain’s labor policies.
As the LMRA resource person, Mr. Ausamah Al Absi provided information and updates on the mandate and scope of services of the LMRA. In a lively open forum, Mr. Al Absi gamely answered questions from the audience and candidly gave advice and recommendations on how to solve the many problems posed to him by the audience.
In his address to the Filipino community present, Mr. Al Absi identified ignorance as the root cause of all labor problems affecting both the employees and employers in the Kingdom. He also stated that both employees and employers should be aware of the Laws of the Kingdom and should exercise due diligence in knowing their rights, privileges, responsibilities and obligations.
Responding to queries from the audience, Mr. Al Absi further clarified the following issues:
1) Worker’s entitlement to indemnity pay even if not provided in his contract;
2) Indemnity pay equivalent to the worker’s half-month salary for the first three consecutive years of employment and full month’s salary for the 4th year and subsequent years of employment;
3) Illegal nature of contract provisions which are contrary and inconsistent with established laws of Bahrain;
4) Resignation to be filed via registered mail by worker intending to file for mobility transfer;
5) Maximum 3 months’ notice period to be observed, once resignation via registered mail, is filed with the employer;
6) Mobility can be undertaken even in the absence of the worker’s passport;
7) prohibition against working for new or prospective employer until after the process for mobility transfer is finished;
8) Use of LMRA hotline (973) 17506055 for inquiries and requests for assistance;
9) Maximum 48 work hours per week; and
10) Overtime pay of BD1.25 for every hour of overtime work, and BD1.50 for overtime services rendered during the worker’s rest day.
The Labour Market Regulatory Authority (LMRA) is a government body with a corporate identity that is endowed with full financial and administrative independence, under the authority of a board of directors duly chaired by the Minister of Labour. The LMRA has the authority to regulate the labor market in the Kingdom of Bahrain The LMRA is further mandated to issue work visas, regulate and control manpower licenses, recruiting agencies, employment offices and business practices of self sponsored expatriates. END
