Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2013, published 103rd ILC session (2014)

Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29) - Qatar (Ratification: 1998)

Representation made pursuant to article 24 of the ILO Constitution. The Committee notes that the Governing Body, at its 317th Session (March 2013), declared as admissible the representation submitted by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) and the Building and Wood Workers’ International (BWI) alleging non-observance of the Convention by Qatar. The representation will be examined in the near future by the Governing Body. Pending this examination, the Committee has decided to defer its consideration of the issue of trafficking in persons and exploitation of migrant workers amounting to forced labour.

Articles 1(1), and 2(1) of the Convention. Freedom of public officials to leave their service. The Committee previously noted that the Human Resources Act (No. 8 of 2009), which repealed the Civil Service Act (No. 1 of 2001), contains provisions regarding the resignation of civil servants (sections 161 and 162) similar to those of the previous Act, under which a request for resignation can be either accepted or refused, and therefore the service is not automatically terminated after the expiration of the notice period of 30 days.

The Committee once again notes the Government’s statement that provisions governing resignation remain unchanged because of the nature of the civil service, and that these provisions aim at ensuring continued operation of the service.

Referring to its 2012 General Survey on the fundamental Conventions concerning rights at work, the Committee once again draws the Government’s attention to the fact that the effect of statutory provisions preventing termination of employment of indefinite duration by means of notice of reasonable length is to turn a contractual relationship based on the will of the parties into service by compulsion of law, and is thus incompatible with the Convention (paragraph 290).

The Committee therefore requests the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure that the legislative text referred to above is amended in order to bring the legislation into conformity with the Convention, for example by eliminating the possibility to reject a resignation after the expiration of a notice period or by limiting provisions preventing workers from leaving their employment to emergency situations. Pending the adoption of such measures, the Committee requests the Government to provide information on the application in practice of sections 161 and 162, indicating the number of cases in which such resignations were refused and the grounds for refusal.