DOHA - Qatar on Sunday introduced a US$275 monthly minimum wage and simplified the process for changing employers, the labour ministry said, following criticism of its treatment of foreign labourers.
They require all workers, including domestic staff, be paid at least 1,000 riyals for a month of full-time work - equivalent to around US$1.30 an hour. "Qatar is the first country in the Middle East to have a minimum wage for all workers without discrimination, whether domestic workers or private sector workers," Qatar's assistant under-secretary for labour affairs, Mohammed Hassan al-Obaidly, told AFP.
The government insisted HRW's survey of 93 migrant workers at 60 companies or employers was not representative and that"nearly all individuals who come to Qatar for employment never experience any form of wage abuse".The UN International Labour Organisation welcomed the package of reforms, calling them a"historic move".