Expat workers can take second jobs for three months
Foreign workers can now work for a second employer for up to three months while staying under their existing work permit, under new LMRA rules that allow short-term staff sharing between firms.
The worker must agree in writing. The employer who holds the permit and the business taking the worker must also consent, and the Labour Market Regulatory Authority must give its approval.
The change, made under Decision No. 2 of 2026, amends rules dating from 2008 for foreign workers outside the domestic worker category.
The firm taking the worker must normally be in a line of business with the same Bahrainisation rate as the worker’s main employer, or a higher one.
If its Bahrainisation rate is lower, the second employer must pay a fee equal to that charged under the LMRA’s existing fee rules. Both employers will also share legal responsibility for employment rights owed to the worker during the three-month spell.
Once the spell is entered in the records, the LMRA will tell the worker and both employers.
The new rules also give employers greater scope to place foreign staff in another business they own.
A worker can be used at another establishment under a different commercial registration, or at a firm within the same group, as recorded by the Industry and Commerce Ministry. The other business must have the same Bahrainisation rate as the worker’s registered employer, or a higher one.
Another change says foreign workers are to work at the workplace named by their employer.
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