15/09/2020 Moving towards WPS 2.0:: Recent measures taken to strengthen wage protection in Qatar Moving towards WPS 2.0: Recent measures taken to strengthen wage protection in Qatar Article | 14 September 2020 The challenge of wage protection for migrant workers around the world has been exacerbated by the economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. In June, a global coalition of civil society organizations and trade unions issued an appeal to governments to establish a transitional justice mechanism to ensure migrants are able to access their due wages. In May, the governments of Switzerland and the United Kingdom launched the Call to Action “Remittances in Crisis: How to Keep them Flowing”, in order to raise awareness on how important remittances are to hundreds of millions of people. Since 2015, the Wage Protection System (WPS) has required that all employers covered by the Labour Law transfer their workers’ wages by bank, in a manner that can be traced by the Ministry of Administrative Development, Labour and Social Affairs (ADLSA). Over 1.66 million of the 1.71 million (or 96 per cent) of the eligible workers are registered in the WPS. This has led to the more timely payment of wages and enabled a more transparent resolution of wage disputes. In 2019, a comprehensive assessment of the WPS  was commissioned by ADLSA and the ILO Project Office in Doha, and carried out by an independent consultant. This was the first review of the WPS since it was established, and was published online. It put forward recommendations on how the WPS could better realize its potential in ensuring that the rights and responsibilities set out in Qatari labour legislation are fulfilled. The WPS is central to the application and enforcement of the recently announced nondiscriminatory minimum wage, which specifies an amount for basic wage, housing and food allowance, and will come into force in early 2021. This note provides an update on the changes that have been adopted in the past year, and what is already underway – based on the recommendations of the independent assessment. Key developments include: https://www.ilo.org/beirut/projects/qatar-office/WCMS_755219/lang--en/index.htm 1/3

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