Bahrain Announces New Measures To Enhance The Expatriate Workers’ Protection

10/06/2022 Sarmistha Dey

Manama: HRH the Crown Prince and Prime Minister of Bahrain announced on Wednesday, October 5th, 2022, a new set of labour market reforms to replace Flexi Permits. The changes will strengthen expatriate worker protections and streamline the processes involved in registering for work or changing jobs.

New labour-market reform package to strengthen protections for foreign employees
Bahrain’s Tier-1 status in the US State Department’s Trafficking in Persons Report has been reinforced by these new measures.

The new measures build on Bahrain’s strong track record of leading regional reform in this area. Bahrain received Tier-1 status in the US Department of State’s Trafficking in Persons Report in 2017, ranking it alongside France, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Germany in a variety of areas.

Bahrain’s Labour Market Regulatory Authority (LMRA) would implement the following reforms:

To improve worker registration, new labour registration centres and an online registration portal will be established.
In the event of a dispute between an employee and an employer, the employee is guaranteed representation before the Labour Market Regulatory Authority.
New guidelines are being developed to connect work permits to vocational and occupational standards in order to improve workplace safety and protection.

Inspections to identify employers engaging in illegal activity will be increased under the reforms, which will be implemented by the Kingdom’s Labour Market Regulatory Authority, to protect the rights of employers, workers, and the Kingdom’s business community.

The revisions will also establish a more comprehensive structure that will give employers greater flexibility in paying and sourcing labour, thereby driving growth in the private sector, which is central to the Kingdom’s ongoing development.

In keeping with these ongoing development efforts, it was announced today that infrastructure connectivity fees for new construction in areas with pre-existing amenities will be completely removed. This change is applicable to major developments and will greatly reduce the construction expenditure. This will also enhance the growth in the construction industry.