HRM News -TheNews – Kafala System

The kafala system, a sponsorship system for foreign workers, had been active for about 70 years. It is a form of the bond entered into by the worker with an employer. However, the system was known to be a way of exploiting foreign workers, who could be paid lesser than the locals. The Kafala (Sponsorship) System emerged in the 1950’s to regulate the relationship between employers and migrant workers in many countries in West Asia. It remains the routine practice in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and also in the Arab states of Jordan and Lebanon. 

> As part of its plan, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development is gearing up to announce a new form of contract between employers and expatriate employees, which will be put into action next year, that is, early 2021.