Manama: MPs have been warned that increasing fees imposed on the private sector by the Labour Market Regulatory Authority (LMRA) could cause drastic harm to the market.
Labour and Social Development Minister Jameel Humaidan said in a written response to parliament that the costs of employing expatriates have gone up, but so have costs of employing Bahrainis.
He also said it would be damaging to charge employers unequal fees for hiring expats in different sectors.
“We can’t divide LMRA fees according to sectors, we deal with expatriate employees in general and the idea may seem approachable, but it has a negative effect on all the labour market,” said Mr Humaidan, who is also LMRA board chairman.
He revealed a total of 25,578 Bahrainis were found private sector jobs by the ministry from January to October last year, but said increasing fees levied on the private sector for expat staff was not the solution to securing more jobs for Bahrainis.
“There will be huge damage to the market if there are higher costs of employing expatriates and higher costs of employing Bahrainis,” he said.
“With the current tough global financial situation, matters could get out of hand.”
Mr Humaidan was responding to a suggestion by MP Mohammed Millad to increase an LMRA tax that companies pay for each expat employee.
“Employers are now showing more interest in Bahrainis without us forcing minimum wages or having them pushed to accept Bahrainisation levels,” said Mr Humaidan.
“We managed to get more than 20,000 Bahrainis private sector jobs last year after rehabilitating them, more than double our target of 10,000.
“We had employers taking around 10,500 Bahrainis under the deal of sharing monthly wages.”
He revealed other employers had agreed to pay the full salaries of their new recruits.
Meanwhile, parliament will this week look into a proposal to make it an obligation to open bank accounts for housemaids, following accusations that many are not paid.
mohammed@gdn.com.bh
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