Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2025, published 114th ILC session (2026)

Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29) - Bahrain (Ratification: 1981)

Articles 1(1), 2(1) and 25 of the Convention. Vulnerable situation of migrant workers to the imposition of forced labour. Following its previous comments, the Committee takes due note of the Government’s information, in its report, that it has suspended the Flexi work permit in October 2022 and replaced it with the Labour Registration Programme (LRP). Migrant workers can submit their applications to Labour Registration Centres, which are licensed private companies, for subsequent approval by the Labour Market Regulatory Authority (LMRA). With this work permit, migrant workers are entitled to work for an employer under a fixed-term employment contract and to transfer to another employer directly by signing a new employment contract. The Government indicates that Labour Registration Centres are instructed not to charge any sums or receive any benefit from migrant workers for the registration process. However, the Committee observes, from the website of the LMRA, that fees are prescribed for the submission of the application for the permit, which vary according to the length of the period requested for the permit.

The Government indicates that, between 2021 and 2023, the LMRA issued about 423,000 new work permits for migrant workers and renewed 80,000 work permits annually on average. As of December 2023, 57,603 foreign workers had obtained work permits through the LRP for various jobs, including construction workers, carpenters, painters, drivers, cleaners and plumbers. Moreover, in that same period, 156,907 migrant workers terminated their employment relationship and 207,000 migrant workers transferred from one employer to another.

Regarding other measures taken to protect migrant workers in the country, the Committee notes the following:

• By the end of 2023, more than 17,000 private sector establishments had joined the Wage Protection System for private sector workers (WPS) and more than 310,000 national and migrant workers were covered. Between 2021 and 2023, the Ministry of Labour (MoL) and LMRA dealt with 24 cases of non-payment of wages through electronic monitoring carried out through the WPS, in addition to complaints received directly by the Ministry. The MoL resolved 98 per cent of all cases amicably and ensured employer’s compliance in the payment to workers of all their wages and arrears, with the remaining cases referred to the Public Prosecution. Fines were imposed on three companies for violations involving non-payment of wages under the Labour Law.
• Between 2021 and 2023, 6,967 complaints of passport confiscation (10 per cent of which were filed by domestic workers) were received by the Expat Protection Centre concerning the withholding of passport and personal documents, which were resolved through the return of the document to the migrant worker, either at police stations or via an amicable agreement.
• The Labour Inspection Department conducted 6,000 inspection visits to private sector establishments between January 2021 and December 2023, resulting in the referral of 35 companies to the Public Prosecutor’s Office for violations of the Labour Law. While a number of fines were imposed, some cases involving other violations have gone before the judiciary and are still pending.
• The Labour Dispute Settlement Authority received approximately 4,500 requests from migrant workers for the resolution of labour disputes concerning: denial of annual leave (33 per cent); withholding of end-of-service gratuity (30 per cent); non-payment of overtime supplement (5 per cent), as well as various miscellaneous claims. Although these requests were resolved amicably in 42 per cent of the cases, in others, the complainant was informed of the possibility of filing a labour case.

The Committee encourages the Government to continue its efforts to ensure that migrant workers are effectively informed of their rights and the mechanisms available to exercise them, so as to prevent labour exploitation and forced labour and enable workers to leave such situations.It requests the Government to continue providing information on labour inspections and on violations identified that have led to the detection of possible cases of forced labour among migrant workers, such as passport confiscation, the imposition of fees by Labour Registration Centres, or violations of working conditions, as well as on the penalties imposed for such violations.

Migrant domestic workers. The Committee recalls that while domestic workers are covered by certain provisions of the Labour Law for the Private Sector (listed under section 2(b)), provisions on minimum wage, working hours, rest periods and overtime do not apply. In this regard, the LMRA adopted the Tripartite Domestic Contract – the standard contract regulating the relationship between the employer, the recruitment office and the domestic worker – which includes stipulations regarding the parties’ obligations and rights and the right to terminate the contract upon notice of 30 days. The conditions of employment, such as the number of working hours, rest hours and holidays, and type of accommodation, must be filled in the contract.

The Committee notes the Government’s information that, as of December 2023, more than 30,500 domestic workers benefited from the Tripartite Domestic Contract scheme. Between 2021 and 2023, the LMRA issued about 70,000 new work permits for domestic labour, 58,000 work permits were renewed for the same category, and more than 18,000 domestic workers ended their employment relationship with the head of the household in accordance with the regulations prescribed in the Labour Law. The Committee observes, from these statistics, that the Tripartite Domestic Contract does not apply to the recruitment of all domestic workers, and that domestic workers may also be recruited directly by employers and as such be protected only by the provisions of the Labour Law applicable to them.

The Government indicates that, in the period 2021 to 2023, the LMRA did not record any complaints from heads of household or domestic workers in cases where the worker was employed through a Tripartite Domestic Contract. In other cases, the MoL received approximately 30 requests from domestic workers for resolution of individual labour disputes. The Ministry was able to reach an amicable settlement in up to 60 per cent of the complaints submitted, and the remainder of the domestic workers were provided with legal advice on how to file a law case against the employer. The Government indicates that the low number of requests received by the MoL is due to the fact that labour disputes involving domestic workers are referred to the Expat Protection Centre, which is affiliated with the LMRA and is responsible for investigating complaints from domestic workers and ensuring that they are not subjected to forced labour or trafficking in persons.

While taking due note of the information provided by the Government, the Committee observes that, in its concluding observations of 2 March 2023, the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women noted with concern that the model tripartite contract for domestic work does not regulate maximum working hours, overtime compensation and rest periods, leaving women migrant/expatriate domestic workers vulnerable to exploitation, and that employers who recruit domestic workers directly are not required to adhere to the Tripartite Domestic Contract (CEDAW/C/BHR/CO/4).

The Committee requests the Government to continue its efforts to strengthen the legal framework governing the employment of migrant domestic workers, including by: (a) extending the protections of the Labour Law to domestic workers; (b) promoting the use of the Tripartite Domestic Contract; (c) monitoring their conditions of employment; and (d) facilitating their access to the complaint mechanisms. In addition, the Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information on: (i) the number of migrant domestic workers who have been able to change employers; (ii) those who have terminated their employment at their own request; (iii) those who have had recourse to the complaints mechanisms established under the Labour Law, as well as more specific information on the violations denounced that may involve forced labour cases, and (iv) the follow-up given to these complaints.

The Committee is raising other points in a request addressed directly to the Government.