Section III
Rights of Expatriate Workers
1. The right to work is considered one of the most important human rights of various kinds, which
requires elements enabling persons to exercise it, given that it is a right necessary for human dignity
and demanded by public good in accordance with economic standards and the principles of social
justice governing the parties to the work process.
2. Actually, the Expatriate Workers are considered a basic rampart of the job market in view of the
investment character of economic life in the Kingdom of Bahrain which represents an attractive
place to work given its spiralling economic growth rate, and a large portion of the Expatriate
Workers is workers who are attracted to job opportunities and the diverse economic activities in the
Kingdom.
3. Hence, the concept of Expatriate Workers is characterized by being temporary employment, given
that it is presumed for the worker to return to his country upon the expiry of his employment
contract, contrary to the migrant workforce which aims to permanently settle in the host country,
and this category does not exist in the Kingdom of Bahrain, given that all the expatriate Workers
come to Bahrain in accordance with employment contracts of a definite period.
4. The Migrant Workers represent one of the parties to the work relationship, which represents every
natural person who works for a consideration of whatever kind, fixed or variable, cash or in-kind,
for a business proprietor and under his management or supervision, while the second party is
represented in the business proprietor, who is every natural or moral person who employs a worker
or more to perform particular work in the Kingdom for a wage (consideration) of whatever type,
fixed or variable, cash or in-kind, and this includes any governmental quarter or institution or
public body or company or office or entity or otherwise from among the entities of the private
sector.
5. At the level of national legislation, Law Number (19) of 2006 concerning the regulation of the labour
market emerged to regulate the work of foreign expatriate workers seeking employment and a
livelihood, and the Labour Law in the private sector Number (36) of 2012 emerged to regulate the
relationship between the worker and the business proprietor, indicating the rights and obligations
of both parties in a manner guaranteeing the enjoyment of the worker of the rights, privileges and
suitable legal measures. Moreover, the Decision of the Ministry of Labour and Social Development
Number (4) of 2006 concerning obligating the business proprietors of the private sector to transfer
the salaries of their employees to banks, and Law Number (1) of 2008 concerning preventing human
trafficking, which included in some of its provisions the necessity of providing protection to foreign
workers who were subject to the crime of human trafficking, through providing legal protection to
them and to prevent the harm resulting from such.
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