DOHA: The Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs says it has found that some private schools fire women teachers who are on the sponsorship of their husbands or fathers, after 10 months of service to avoid paying them two months’ leave salary.
These teachers are given marching orders at the end of the academic year and beginning of the long summer break.
The ministry said the practice is illegal and in breach of the labour law which makes it mandatory for teachers’ job contracts to be for a minimum one year.
A senior official of the ministry told local Arabic daily Al Raya in a report published on Wednesday that a teacher’s employment contract must essentially be for one year and that he or she be paid two months’ leave salary.
But some schools remove women teachers after 10 months of service, depriving them of the salary for the two months of annual leave.
“Our inspectors have found that some private schools purposely terminate the services of teachers who are under the sponsorship of their father or husband after 10 months of service in breach of the labour law,” said Saleh Al Khalidi, head of the Guidance and Educational Team at the ministry. These schools then sign fresh employment contracts with the teachers at the beginning of the new academic year, Al Khalidi added.
The ministry has set up the Guidance and Education Team of male and female inspectors so they would visit companies and spread awareness among workers and officials about the rights and duties of workers under the labour law. Team members also listen to workers’ grievances and companies’ viewpoints during their visits.
The women’s wing of the team focuses on companies and workplaces that mostly employ women, like schools and beauty parlours.
Women inspectors have visited 97 workplaces since the wing was set up and found several violations.
Some of the major grievances reported by workers to the team related to annual leave, air ticket benefits, leave allowance and end-of-service benefits.
Companies should put a system in place for granting annual leave to workers on rotation so they do not face shortages, and provide them air tickets, Al Khalidi said. This way the system will work efficiently and there would be no complaints, he added.
The Peninsula
