New Labor Settlement Committee to Handle Employment Disputes

The Qatari authorities have set up the Labor Dispute Resolution Committee (LDRC) as a specialized body to deal with employment disputes. The LDRC was established to offer speedier resolutions in employment disputes, to avoid litigation in the Qatari courts, which can be quite protracted and costly.

The LDRC implements a mandatory pre-court process for all disputes arising between an employer and an employee in relation to the Qatari labor law and/or the employment contract. As a result, all employment disputes must be brought before the LDRC before the dispute will be heard by any Qatari courts.

The LDRC is comprised of a Court of First Instance judge and two additional elected members.

In cases of wrongful dismissal, the LDRC has the power to:

• cancel an employer’s decision to dismiss an employee and award reinstatement and to order payment of unpaid wages for the period the employee was not allowed to work; or
• order payment of suitable compensation to an employee, which “shall include the wages and other benefits” denied to the employee as a result of dismissal.

Parties may appeal LDRC decisions directly to the court of appeal (i.e., there is no need to go through the usual Court of First Instance stage of litigation).

Comment

The creation of the LDRC follows a trend across a number of Gulf Cooperation Council countries of making it easier for employees to access justice in employment law disputes.

Written by Kamaljit Dosanjh of Al Tamimi & Co. and Roger James of Ogletree Deakins