DOHA: Qatar has approved a law limiting domestic staff to a maximum of 10 hours work a day, the first such protection for thousands of household maids, nannies and cooks in the country.
The “Domestic Employment Law” also orders employers to pay staff wages at the end of each month and entitles workers to at least one day off per week and an annual leave of three weeks, the Qatar News Agency (QNA) reported.
They will also receive end-of-service benefits equating to a minimum of three weeks wages for each year of service when their contract ends.
The law prohibits staff being recruited from abroad who are older than 60 and younger than 18.
Hundreds of thousands of foreign workers have flocked to the gas-rich Gulf country in recent years, including almost 100,000 women working as house staff.
Other domestic workers covered by the new law include cleaners, gardeners and drivers.
The legislation was issued on Tuesday by Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, QNA reported.
Although Qatar has come under severe international pressure to improve its record on the treatment of construction workers in the run-up to the 2022 World Cup, until now domestic staff have not been protected by any legislation.
Critics have long campaigned for legal protection for domestic staff, with some claiming that they are subjected to working in slave-like conditions.
These included physical and sexual abuse, no wages being paid and passports being confiscated.
In 2014, it was reported that hundreds of Filipino domestic workers had sought sanctuary at their Doha Embassy complaining of harsh working conditions.
The legislation comes at a time when Qatar’s laws remain under scrutiny from the International Labor Organization (ILO).
The UN body has given Qatar until November to improve its human rights record or face sanctions.
Doha limits hours, ensures wages for domestic workers
Doha limits hours, ensures wages for domestic workers
UN chief says those behind ‘unacceptable’ Homs attack must face justice
- France says the "terror" attack is designed to destabilize the country
UNITED NATIONS/PARIS: United Nations chief Antonio Guterres strongly condemned the deadly attack on Friday prayers at a mosque in the Syrian city of Homs, and said the perpetrators should be brought to justice.
“The Secretary-General reiterates that attacks against civilians and places of worship are unacceptable. He stresses that those responsible must be identified and brought to justice,” spokesman Stephane Dujarric said in a statement.
The explosion killed at least eight worshippers at a mosque in a predominantly Alawite area of Homs, with an Islamist militant group claiming responsibility.
France also condemned the attack, calling it an “act of terrorism” designed to destabilize the country.
The attack “is part of a deliberate strategy aimed at destabilizing Syria and the transition government,” the French foreign ministry said in a statement.
It condemned what it said was an attempt to “compromise ongoing efforts to bring peace and stability.”
The attack, during Friday prayers, was the second blast in a place of worship since Islamist authorities took power a year ago, after a suicide bombing in a Damascus church killed 25 people in June.
In a statement on Telegram, the extremist group Saraya Ansar Al-Sunna said its fighters “detonated a number of explosive devices” in the Imam Ali Bin Abi Talib Mosque in the central Syrian city.
