2709 Illegal employment cases referred to prosecution

Manama : Illegal employment of expatriates is rampant in the Kingdom. More than 2,700 cases of illegal employment were recently referred to the Public Prosecution for investigation, according to the Labour Market Regulatory Authority (LMRA).

The LMRA said that it referred 2,709 cases involving 1565 illegal workers to judicial authorities during the inspection procedure.

In a recent report, the authorities stated that the cases were the result of 13,506 inspection field visits to worksites. 

“The visits were conducted by 70 inspectors,” LMRA said, adding these visits noticeably reduced the numbers of illegal employment in the Kingdom.

The LMRA statement also mentioned that inspections are being carried out by LMRA’s specialised teams around the year. It highlighted the roles of the teams in developing the labour market and work environment in the country.

 “The authority is constantly setting and following strategies to curb the irregular employment phenomenon,” the LMRA said.

Referring to the recently announced ‘flexible work’ permits that offer a legal alternative for illegal workers the LMRA said, “The flexible work permits are expected to be launched by mid-year. They are issued once in every two years for each individual and grant its holders to work temporarily for any employer in the jobs that don’t require special professional permits.”

“Two thousand flexible permits will be issued on a monthly basis to contain the irregular employment phenomenon. However, the permits don’t include runaway workers and regular employees can’t transfer from their current employers to this category,” the LMRA statement added.