Employer of Record Qatar

Infotree Global Solutions assists organizations planning for expansion in Qatar by providing employer of record services in Qatar. If you wish to recruit professionals in Qatar, you can easily accomplish it with us without even having an establishment in Qatar. Our team of dedicated professionals would take up all the recruitment and payroll management responsibilities for your organization. From searching for ideal employees to hiring and onboarding them, we take every step on your behalf in total compliance.

Our Qatar employer of record would give you insights into the compensation, benefits, and facilities required for your employees in Qatar. Here are some of the important factors you need to know before you start hiring in Qatar:

Table of Contents

Hiring in Qatar

Qatar reformed its Labor laws, specifically strengthening the rights of expatriate workers. As a result, around 2 million foreigners are working in Qatar which comprises approximately 90% of the total workforce. Foreign employees need both Residency Permit and Work Permit to be eligible to work in Qatar.

Also, under the newly reformed laws, workers in companies with more than 30 employees can elect their own representatives to discuss workplace issues such as organization of work, risk prevention tools, health, and safety rules, and so on.

It may take a lot of time and energy for a foreign company to stay up to date with Labor laws. Infotree Global, as your Employer of Record Qatar, will take care of all the applicable compliances.

Employment Compliance

The service contract establishes the relationship between employees and employers. It needs to be attested by the official department. The contract includes the profile of the employee, time period, length of probation period, wages, method of payroll, and other relevant information. If the contract is of a definitive period, then the time period cannot exceed 5 years. When the contract ends, the employer has to arrange the proceedings for an employee to return. It is recommended to contact an Employer of record to learn about the process.

Compensation – The Qatar government in 2020, created a minimum wage policy. According to it, all workers in the private sector, including domestic workers, will receive a minimum wage of 1000 Qatari Riyals.

Working Hours – An employee works 48 hours per week, week-8 hours per day on ordinary days. During Ramadan, working hours are reduced to 36 hours per week, 6 hours per day.

The working hours per day cannot exceed 10 hours.

Friday is a weekly rest day except for shift workers. Also, employees cannot be made to work for over 2 consecutive Fridays. This provision doesn’t apply to shift workers. Get in touch with your Employer of Record in Qatar for more details.

Bonus – Employers are not legally required to pay 13th-month payments. Bonuses, to a large extent, depend upon the employer’s disposition.

Probationary Period – The newly reformed Labor laws of Qatar state that the employer can put an employee on a probation period, on the condition that it must not exceed 6 months. The duration must be mentioned in the service contract.

The employer can end the contract within the probation period if it is proved that the employee didn’t meet the standards of the work. Notification is sent three days before the termination date.

Termination and Severance – The serving notice period is mandatory for both employer and employee if any of them wishes to end the contract before its natural expiration. It also depends on the nature of the contract whether it is open-ended or for a fixed number of years. Below is mentioned the exact notification time for the notice period.

• 30 days if the contract is open-ended, and the duration of service is 5 years.
• 30 days if the contract is for a definitive number of years.
• 60 days if the contract is open-ended, and the duration of service exceeds 5 years.

Additionally, an employee may end the contract before its completion if the employer indulges in unethical practices. For example-employer commits physical assault or misled an employee. Employee reserves its right for gratuity pay in this case.

Likewise, employers can also end the contract without notice. It usually happens when an employee, for example, submits false documents or performs his work under the influence of drugs. Here, the right to gratuity pay is also suspended.

After completing one year with the employer employees are entitled to severance benefits. The payment structure is as below which includes a cost-of-living allowance with base pay:

• Up to five years of service – Three weeks of pay each year
• Between Six to Ten years of service – Four weeks of pay each year
• Between eleven to twenty years of service – Five weeks of pay each year
• Over twenty years of service – Six weeks of pay each year

When the contract ends, an employer incurs all the expenses as it is its responsibility to make sure an employee returns to its native place safely. Also, an employer needs to ensure that the employee leaves the country within seven days once the exit permit is issued.

Handling termination and severance procedures may lead to wild stress. Infotree Global as your Employer of Record in Qatar is there to cut your stress dramatically.

Employee Entitlements

To keep all your activities legally compliant with local regulations, the Qatar employer of record can assist you swiftly. Everything including all the benefits and rules regarding holidays that an employee deserves would remain updated. Apart from the minimum wage, as the contract should explain all about vacation criteria, leaves, and other entitlements, you are obliged to be updated with all the statutory benefits and paid leave requirements. Contrarily, partnering with an international EOR service provider can unwind your stress by handling all the below requirements:

Maternity Leaves – In Qatar female employees are entitled to 50 days of maternity leaves after completing one year with the employer. They can opt for 15 days of leave before childbirth and the rest 35 days after it.

In case of complications during childbirth, additional 60 days of unpaid leave can be taken by the employee by providing the medical certificate. Also, a nursing interval of not less than one hour per day is provided for the following year after delivery. It is a paid interval. Employees are entitled to maternity benefits if they have worked with the employer for at least one year.

Vacations – Employees can enjoy paid annual leave only after they have completed one year in service. The duration of leave is:

• Three weeks for less than five years in service.
• Four weeks for over five years in service

The employer may fix the date of the annual leave, considering the work requirements. Employers may, additionally, divide the annual pay over two periods only with the consent of the worker. If the contract is terminated for any reason before the employee could take the leaves, in this case, the employee is entitled to an amount equivalent to his wage on leave days.
In Qatar, an employee may get an annual round-trip ticket from their employer to visit their home country during vacations. The ticket may not be necessarily for the whole family.

Muslim employees can enjoy 2 weeks of unpaid leave, once during the period of employment, for the purpose of pilgrimage.

Sick Leaves – In Qatar, an employee qualifies for paid sick leave after 3 months of continuous service with the same employer. Sick leave is wholly paid for the first two weeks. An employee gets half wages if the period extends to four weeks. Beyond four weeks, an employee is not eligible for paid leaves.

The service contract ends if a worker cannot resume work because of sickness even after the 12th week. However, the employer requires a certificate from the medical authority to prove its rationale. An Employer of Record in Qatar can assist you in dealing with the sick leaves policy.

Paternity Leaves – As of now, there is no legal provision for paternity leaves by the Qatar government. An employer can voluntarily provide paternity leave. An employee can negotiate it during the service contract. However, to be competitive many companies choose to offer it to their employees as part of their benefits packages.

Health Benefits – The Qatar government has rolled out a new law that will come into effect in May 2022. Under this new law, employers and sponsors are required to enroll their non-Qatari workers and their families in the mandatory health insurance schemes.

The companies registered with MOPH (The Ministry of Public Health) will provide the insurance schemes. Employers who cannot provide basic health insurance will have to bear penalties.

Employees will negotiate for additional medical services beyond basic health coverage during the contract signing. A new residency permit or renewal will be issued only if the employee has a basic health insurance scheme.

As your Qatar Employer of Record company, we will make sure that your employees have the best health insurance coverage. It will also see into the swift implementation of these new laws.

Pension – Employees in the private sector and non-Qatari workers are not eligible for a pension from the Qatari government.

Nevertheless, after one year of continuous employment, an employee qualifies for end-of-service gratuity. An employee’s basic salary is the benchmark for calculation. Gratuity should not be less than a three-week wage for every year of employment.

Other Guaranteed Benefits – Employees receive a mandatory bonus when they work overtime. Overtime cannot exceed 2 hours per day. They are paid a basic salary plus 25% of it for overtime. If they work between 9 pm to 6 am, a basic salary plus 50% of it is paid. Employers need to pay a basic salary plus 150% of it in case they require the services of employees on Fridays. A worker cannot work for more than 2 consecutive Fridays.

Besides minimum wage, workers will receive an additional QAR 500 for accommodation, and QAR 300 per month for food. It is the right of an employee to receive payment in lieu of their annual leave if the contract ends before taking annual leave.

As your Qatar Employer of Record, we will take the responsibility to ensure there is no mismanagement in giving employees all the entitled benefits.

Payroll Tax in Qatar

There is no personal income tax either for local or non-local employees. Companies owned fully by Qatari or GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) nationals do not have to pay Corporate Income Tax (CIT). Whereas companies wholly or partially owned by foreign entities are subject to a flat 10% Corporate Income Tax. There are exceptions to this rule. For example-companies associated with oil, and operations need to pay CIT no less than 35%.

• Internal payroll system
• Remote payroll system
• The local payroll processing company
• The global payroll processing company

There are subtle nuances when setting up a robust payroll system. Infotree Global is a trusted Employer of Record Qatar. Our team is wedded to handling all the tax and payroll complications on your behalf.

Type of  Visa and Work Permits in Qatar

To work in Qatar, expatriates need a Work Residency Permit (RP) foremost. Only a company in Qatar or a Qatari employer or citizen can sponsor RP and a good Employer of Record company will assist in getting sponsorship. An EOR also takes care of all the paperwork on behalf of the expatriate. It usually takes 2-4 weeks to convert a temporary visa to a Work Residency Permit. Employers must also renew the RP of expatriates every year.

Through RP, foreign workers can sponsor their spouses and children to live with them in Qatar. Each member requires a separate Residency Permit. A woman in Qatar on family sponsorship doesn’t require a separate work permit to be eligible for employment.

Work permit needs approval from the official department after considering the ‘Qatarization’. It is a strategic policy to increase the local workforce in intellectual and technological areas. The time period of a work permit is up to 5 years in most cases.

Qatar issues many kinds of visas. Here, we will list visas related to business and employment.

72-hour Business Visa: This visa is issued on arrival. It is ideal for short-term business trips. It is extendable for an additional 72 hours.

Business Visa: It is ideal for foreigners for contractual work in Qatar. It must be arranged in advance by the employer. The visa is valid for a maximum of 3 months.

Investor Visa: It is for foreigners who invest in business ventures in Qatar. They don’t require employment for residency. They need to show property ownership documents and a certificate of good behavior.

Effectively managing applications for work permits and visas can be laborious work. Infotree Global as your Qatar Employer of Record handles all the hiring and paperwork for employee mobility.

Challenges When Expanding into Qatar

Qatar is a growing economy. They wish to create a strong Knowledge-based economy for their future growth. Over the years, the UN and Human Rights groups have acknowledged the efforts of the Qatar government to make work more friendly to foreign people and businesses.

Yet there are challenges unique to Qatar. Here, we have listed a few of them.

• High level of bureaucracy
• Requires comprehension of Islamic values and culture
• Language barrier. All official documents are in Arabic
• Qatarization
• Need for local Qatari for sponsorship
• Need for local Qatari for sponsorship

Infotree Global, as your Employer of Record Qatar, with a team of in-country experts will leave no stone unturned to overcome challenges related to hiring, managing benefits, crafting payroll system, tax compliances, approving work permits, and so on. Contact us for a demo of our services.

Benefits of Qatar Employer of Record

To simplify your expansion process let Infotree Global assist you to deal with all the complexities. Be it hiring employees, distributing payroll, or taking care of expenses, we are there to assist you at every step. Partner with us and start your global business without worries.

Market Access – Relying on the professional expertise of an Employer of Record is the best way to enter an unknown market quickly. By using EOR services, an international organization can avail the expertise of a Qatar employee to work for its company. Besides quick access to the Israel market, the employer of record also enables the client to ease off worries related to payroll and HR.

In Country Laws – It is hard to ignore the importance of regulations and compliance in a foreign country. If you are operating a business in Qatar, you need to be well aware of the payroll and taxation rules. With Qatar Employer of Record services, a company can hire a foreign individual or local employees and deal with the complexities of the country’s rules. Be it income tax, social security contribution, expanse management, withholding charges, or business tax, an EOR or PEO company takes care of it all with total compliance.

Diverse Solutions – No matter whether you already have a company in an international location or you are going to establish the one, an employer of record can help you significantly. The employer of record Company can hire staff on your behalf without setting up a subsidiary in Qatar. If your firm is already operating, using EOR for managing payroll tasks can be a great idea as they can present an effective solution to tax and accounting responsibilities in the country.

Why Infotree Global Solutions?

Companies should focus more on growing the business instead of spending time with legal formalities, different tax structures, and other employment-related issues. We at Infotree Global Solutions will help you set up your business in Qatar by managing payroll services and other legal formalities within the shortest possible time. Our employer of record services is designed to best suit the interests of employees and employers. Our experienced in-territory experts will be constantly present to supervise and regulate your business endeavor in Qatar.

If you are seeking a professional employer of record service in Qatar, do not waste your time searching for any other service provider and call us straight. We are committed to providing the best result to our customers and will make your company’s task our priority. Contact us for a demo.