Shura Council strikes down economic redundancies bill

TDT | Manama

Email : editor@newsofbahrain.com

A proposal to toughen rules on economic redundancies has been struck down by the Shura Council, which warned it would deter firms from hiring long-term staff and duplicate existing labour protections.

At its latest sitting yesterday, the council voted not to approve amendments to the Labour Law in the Private Sector, Law No. 36 of 2012, and agreed to send the bill back to the lower house for another look.

The draft, forwarded from Parliament in amended form, sought to replace Article 110 and add a new Article 110 bis to govern redundancies for economic reasons and the way employers notify the Labour Ministry.

Contracts

According to the memorandum from the Legislation and Legal Opinion Commission, the bill would have recast Article 110 to set out how contracts may be ended on economic grounds, with the stated aim of securing social fairness and making sure employers took all possible steps before ending the contracts of Bahraini workers.

The new Article 110 bis was drawn up to organise how notices from employers to the ministry are dated and recorded when redundancies are planned, with the drafters linking the move to Article 13 of the Constitution on the role of work in social stability and growth.

Shura’s Services Committee took a different view.

It said the draft text would make dismissal procedures more cumbersome and lead to extra forms and checks for companies without clear gain.

Complications

Committee rapporteur Hala Ramzi told members the proposal “complicates procedures and places an extra burden on employers without any practical return’, and would place ‘administrative and accounting duties on the Ministry of Labour outside its remit”.

The lawmaker added that the bill overlooks grounds for ending an employment contract that are not tied to the state of a business, and that it “creates legislative duplication with Article 111 of the current law”, which already deals with compensation for workers.