There is a legislative deficiency in which the legislative authority is concerned, or a procedural deficiency in which the executive authority is concerned, which has made the Bahraini a weaker party in the relationship between employers and workers, when the employer is fined for a sin he did not commit and pays losses he did not cause.
In the event that a worker leaves work or (escapes) or (moves) – call it what you like – from his job without notification and before the end of his contract period and sometimes only several months after his recruitment, and then you find that he has moved to work in another location or disappeared for several years and then suddenly appeared, then the labor law here stands helpless in the face of the rights of the first employer. Firstly, upon reporting, there is no party to follow up on this worker and look for him, and he is often told that you are in charge of searching, and when you find him, inform us, and this worker can work with an authority. Others, and there are many who accept him, but when he is found by chance after several years, his first employer is summoned to buy a ticket for his return!!
Whether it is a weakness in legislation or implementation, this is what is happening, and it is clear that the scales of justice are tilted and unfair and unfair to the employer, yet no one has moved to correct it despite the complaints of thousands of citizens.
(Last year, a number of representatives submitted a proposal requiring the foreign worker to obtain a discharge certificate before being deported or leaving Bahrain, but the Labor Market Regulatory Authority rejected the proposal because it would make it the body that follows up on the worker after his departure or escape. The “Chamber” had reservations about the proposal because it conflicts with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and international agreements.)
The movement of foreign workers within Bahrain, or even their travel, needs more regulation, especially if it occurs before the end of the worker’s contract period, as there are losses incurred by the person who recruited this worker. Therefore, releasing him from his liability from the first employer is necessary to accept his employment in another location, or requiring proof that he terminated his first contract within the time period specified in the contract, or that the new employer pay the recruitment costs to the first before he hires the worker, otherwise he will be fined.
The second problem that resulted from this shortcoming, which was not addressed despite repeated complaints about it, is that this neglect led to a negative impression and image of the relationship between the citizen and the state. The conclusion that is always repeated in these cases is that the state does not value the citizen. The state is concerned with its reputation in human rights forums at the expense of the citizen, and that the Bahraini is last and not first. And that is why it is not interested in correcting this defect and adjusting the balance of rights between the two sides of the equation, let alone exploiting this legislative and executive defect. To generalize about the poor condition of the citizen and his status in his country in a way that is unfair and unfair to the state.
Employment contracts need intervention and reconsideration of their clauses, whether from the Labor Market Regulatory Authority, the legislative authority, the executive authority, or even from any civil body that proposes the necessary amendments to guarantee the rights of the employer.
The most important thing is that measures must be put in place to follow up on this defect, with the executive authority concerned. There is no point in issuing the amendment and not following up with measures to enforce and implement it, especially since several parties will have a role in seriously following up on the violating workers in this case, and not as is the case now when reporting each party places the responsibility for follow-up on another party. Is it reasonable for this defect to remain unresolved?
