A NEW scheme in which employers have to transfer salaries directly into staff bank accounts is expected to be launched in April.
Banks in Bahrain are in the process of upgrading and testing their systems to ensure smooth adoption of the policy.
It was supposed to be launched last year, but sources told the GDN it had been delayed to allow retail banks and payment service providers more time to meet requirements.
The initiative has been dubbed the Wage Protection System (WPS), as it aims to protect the rights of employees by guaranteeing their timely salary payments.
A document sent to all banks by Benefit, which handles the country’s electronic fund transfer and ATM transactions, confirms “tentative” plans for implementation in April.
“We would like to inform you that the WPS tentative planned go live is April 2019,” states the document, a copy of which has been obtained by the GDN.
It also encourages all banks to “start/continue the testing and certification process for all related services within the WPS”.
The initiative is being spearheaded by the Labour Market Regulatory Authority (LMRA) and will cover both expatriate and Bahraini employees.
“Every employer has to transfer wages for its registered workers into bank accounts once the WPS is introduced,” said LMRA chief executive Ausamah Al Absi.
“This aims to prevent exploitation of workers and, most importantly, alert us to cases of non-payment of wages.”
He explained that once introduced, authorities would have access to an integrated database that would notify them of companies that do not pay their workforce.
“There are many options that will be offered, such as prepaid cards and e-wallets, as part of this scheme,” he added.
However, he added that implementation would take place in phases.
“There is going to be scheduled roll out depending on the size of the company,” stated Mr Al Absi.
Officials have not released 2018 data for non-payment of wages in Bahrain.
However, the GDN previously reported that 1,769 complaints about unpaid wages were handled in 2017.
That compares with 276 cases in 2013, 1,386 in 2014, 1,316 in 2015 and 1,535 in 2016.
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