Director of Labor Relations at Public Authority for Manpower (PAM) Abdullah Al-Marri revealed that the department has, since the beginning of 2018, received about 12,800 absconding reports that were filed by employers against the workers registered in their files.
According to local media report, 244 expatriate workers canceled their residencies in Kuwait and returned to their home country since the beginning of 2018 after they lodged complaints with the department.
About 4,315 individual labor complaints have been referred to the court since the beginning of this year, as it was difficult for the Labor Relations Department to settle them.
He disclosed that complaints can be lodged either via the Labor Relations Department or through the website of PAM using the username given to the concerned worker by PAM when he recorded his phone number with the authority. The complaints lodged by workers are of two types. The first type concerns work permits. Complaints in this regard have to be studied to decide if the work permit can be transferred or cancelled. The second type concerns individual complaints such as the financial rights of the workers or if their passports are held by their employers.
The time period for the department to settle a complaint is two weeks. If the departments fails to do so within this period, the complaint is referred to the court.