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percent for Qataris working in the government sector. 142 Meanwhile, consumer price
inflation rose steadily in 2010 and 2011 due primarily to rising food costs (the main monthly
expenditure for most construction workers), according to Qatari government data. 143
Even with the prevailing low salary levels, many workers reported that their employers
arbitrarily deducted from their salaries, while some said that their employers had not paid
them for months. A 2011 study on migrant labor by the Qatar Human Rights Committee,
which surveyed 1,114 migrant workers in the country, found that 33.9 percent of workers
surveyed said they were not paid on a regular basis. 144 Qatar’s Labor Law requires
companies to pay workers’ salaries monthly, at a minimum. 145 A letter from Ministry of
Labor officials to Human Rights Watch added that “the Ministry conducts monthly
inspections of all companies and institutions and audits their accounts to ensure that
workers receive their wages,” and that “administrative sanctions—up to the automatic
suspension of all the company’s transactions—are imposed on those companies that do
not pay their workers’ wages at the specified time. They may be also referred to the
judiciary, as the non-payment of wages is considered a criminal, punishable act.” 146
Despite these measures, most workers interviewed by Human Rights Watch said that their
companies had policies of withholding between one and three months’ wages at the
outset of their employment as a “deposit salary” to prevent them from quitting jobs
early. 147 Employers told them they would receive the money at the end of their contract
term. Abdul M., a worker from Bangladesh, told Human Rights Watch he had worked in
142 GDP per capita for 2010, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) data. International Monetary Fund, World
Economic Outlook Database, September 2011. Available at:
http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2011/02/weodata/index.aspx (accessed September 14, 2011); “Hefty Raise for
Government Staff,” The Peninsula, September 7, 2010, available at: http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/qatar/164254-heftyraise-for-qatari-govt-staff.html
(accessed October 26, 2011).
143 “Annual consumer price inflation in Qatar rose to 2.2 percent in September because of a jump in food costs, reaching its
highest level since at least the beginning of 2010, when the Statistics Authority began publishing year-on-year data.” Martina
Fuchs, “Qatar September Inflation at fresh high of 2.2 percent,” Reuters, October 20, 20111, available at:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/10/20/qatar-cpi-idUSL5E7LK2Z920111020 (last accessed October 26, 2011).
144 Qatar National Human Rights Committee, Study on the Conditions of Unskilled Labor Force in the Construction Sector in
Qatar, “Executive Summary” (Doha: National Human Rights Committee, 2011), p.13. On file with Human Rights Watch.
145 Article 66 of the Labor Law states: “The wages of the workers employed on an annual or monthly wages shall be paid at
least once in every month. The wages of all other workers shall be paid once at least every two weeks.” Law No.14 of 2004,
art.66.
146 Letter from Qatar Ministry of Labor to Human Rights Watch, November 1, 2011, p.3.
147 Human Rights Watch interview with Abdul H., Doha Industrial Area, May 25, 2011; Human Rights Watch group interview
with seven Nepali workers in ASPIRE Zone, June 12, 2011; Human Rights Watch interview with Ajit T., labor camp near al-Khor,
June 17, 2011; Human Rights Watch interview with Bhanu K., labor camp near al-Khor, June 17, 2011.
63 HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH | JUNE 2012