Did you know that Qatar has its residency law that affects the privileges of expatriates currently working and planning to settle their career in the country? This includes changing your job if you don’t feel like you are on the right track of your career path. Though there is a major change from the transition of the residency law last 2016, you don’t need to worry about it as there are resolutions stated in specific articles in the law.
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It would surely take time for new expats to adapt to the residency law in any country in the Gulf Region. It’s not that hard but it is challenging since there is a major shift especially when you’re from the Asian and Western countries. With regards to switching from one employer to another, you need to take a few important points to stay on the right track. To give you an idea, here are possible circumstances that you may encounter once you decided to change job in Qatar.
Cases Under Fixed Term Contracts
Changing of the employer even if the term was not completed.
- In this case, the employee did not reach the expiration of the contract and decided to resign and look for a new employer. Under the residency law of Qatar, the employee needs to seek the permission of the existing employer before he transfers to another. This comes with a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the employer. If the employer doesn’t hand out NOC, the employee needs to stay out of the country until the remaining time in the contract expires.
Changing of the employer when the fixed-term expires
- If an employee has completed the fixed-term contract, he doesn’t need to ask for permission from his previous employer. Whether it is a year, a 2-year, or 5-year contract, the only permission you need to get is from the Ministry of Administrative Development, Labour & Social Affairs (MADLSA). However, a 30-day notice period must be served.
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Cases Under Unlimited Contracts
Changing of the employer even if the 5-year term has not been completed.
- The usual term for open-ended contracts in 5 years. If the employee was not able to complete the 5 years and he decided to transfer to a new employer, he needs to seek a NOC from his previous employer. If the NOC was not given, he will need to stay out of the country until the term expires. Say the employee has completed 2 years, he will have to stay out for 3 years before he can get a new job in the country.
Changing of the employer if the 5-year term has been completed.
- This case is just the same as completing the term under the fixed contract. The employee needs to serve a 30-day notice period and seek the approval of MADLSA. The only difference is the years needed to complete.
If ever you’re thinking about transferring to a new employer in Qatar, you need to be mindful of the following instances so you can do the formal way of getting a new job.