When amendments to the human resources law and its benefits and advantages were announced, we felt good. Then, however, due to conflicting news about the date of issuance of the amended law, there was confusion even as we were expecting to see some progress.
It looks as if senior officials love it when legal provisions remain provisional or are amended.
I was one of those asked to rectify the condition of employees in the new law, but the ministerial changes that took place recently changed the situation; I mean the changes that occurred after the young Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani took over, wherein new ministries were created and the names of some ministries were changed. According to clerics names are not a big issue and rather more important are constructive work and fruitful outcomes.
Restructuring is needed to avoid duplication of work by ministries and state institutions, and to organise ministerial structures.
Needless to say, the ministries concerned should prepare their organisational structures as soon as possible in accordance with their human resources. This was scheduled to be done before the holy month of Ramadan, and the new Ministry of Development Planning was formed for this purpose.
But the ministerial structures have not been announced till today, and whatever we hear or read about this is just expectations and outlooks. I hope an official source will make an announcement on this issue following the publication of this article.
There is justification for delaying restructuring and reorganising the ministries and sending information on that to the committee for amending and drafting the human resources law, as 70 percent of these structures already exist and have been functioning for decades. They only need slight improvement. What is needed is speeding up of the work, as we are eager to see a fair and integrated law for human development, which is strongly related to an employee’s life and his aspiration for a safe and secure work environment.
Coinciding with these measures, we need to ask, is not organising of ministries a priority before the human resources law, which is under amendment, is issued? What is the reason for the delay in some ministries and institutions subject to this law completing this task?
Moreover, is the authority to supervise the committee amending the human resources law to be transferred to the Ministry of Development Planning? How does an employee sue a body that has the power to consider complaints and claims of employees, and is it possible to be a judge and litigant at the same time?
How are things with our venerable Cabinet? And does an employee have to wait for promotion, or allowances, until a legal confusion between the two parties is resolved? And why does the secretary-general have more authority in some ministries and institutions than the minister or the administrative head?
There are many questions that Qatari employees want answered by practical measures to remove confusion regarding ministerial structures and the human resources law.
