An employee has been defined by the Bahraini Labour Law as every natural person employed in consideration of a wage with an employer and under his management or supervision. No distinction was made between employee, worker or self-employed individuals.

Yes, the Bahraini Labour Law recognizes the definite term, indefinite term and project contracts.

Employment contracts, as any other contract, are concluded from the moment offer is linked to acceptance if it deals with a subject and is based on a reason considered legal. An employment contract shall also include the following details:

• Employer’s name, the address of the business premises and commercial registration number.
• Employee’s name, date of birth, qualifications, position or occupation, residential address, nationality and personal particulars of identification.
• The nature, type of employment and term of the contract if it is for a definite term.
• The wage agreed upon, method and time of payment, and all the cash and in-kind benefits agreed upon.
• Other particulars to be determined by a resolution of the Minister.

Furthermore, contracts of employment shall be in writing, in Arabic, recorded in duplicate, one copy of which shall be retained by each of the parties hereto. If a contract is drawn up in a language other than Arabic, it shall be accompanied by an Arabic version thereof, pursuant to Article 19 of the Bahraini Labour Law. In the absence of a written contract, the employee alone may establish all his rights by all methods of evidence.

Yes, the Bahraini Labour Law does not differentiate between part-time and full-time employees.

Employees may be seconded to a different company whereby they remain to receive their entitlements from their original employer by way of outsourcing. But employees may not be transferred or assigned to a new employer, whereby they will receive their instructions and entitlements from the new employer without the employees’ consent.

If the company an employee is working for is transferred, the employment contract which the employee entered into with the original employer shall remain valid and may not be altered unilaterally by the new employer, pursuant to Article 7 of the Bahraini Labour Law. The new employer may not contravene the conditions laid down in the initial contract of employment nor shall he require the employee to perform any tasks which has not been agreed upon or which is not in accordance with the terms of the contract unless necessitated by an urgent emergency for preventing an accident, repairing whatever may arise therefrom or in case of force majeure provided that such change shall be on a temporary basis. An employer may assign to an employee task other than that previously agreed upon, provided that it does not differ basically therefrom and is not intended to prejudice the employee’s rights.

The only provision in the Bahraini Labour Law which protects the employees in case of change of control is Article 7 of the Bahraini Labour Law which states as follows: “Merger of an establishment with another or its transmission by way of inheritance, will, gift or sale, even if by a public auction, lease or such other disposal shall not result in termination of the establishment’s contracts of employment. A successor shall be jointly liable with previous employers for the performance of all the obligations arising from such contracts.”

Employers may unilaterally change the terms of employment, subject to that the change is for the benefit of the employees. For example, increasing the number of annual leave days to which the employee is entitled to or increasing the employees' wage. However, employers may not unilaterally change the terms of employment to the detriment of the employees. In such a scenario, the employees may continue to work on the previous terms which were agreed upon.

Under the Bahraini Labour Law, employees may be dismissed for either “Employee Related Reasons” or “Business Related Reasons”.

1. Employee Related Reasons: 

An employer may terminate the contract of employment without notice or compensation in any of the following instances:

1. If the employee has assumed a false identity or submitted false certificates or testimonials.
2. If the employee has committed a fault that caused serious material loss to the employer, provided that the employer shall report the matter to the competent authorities within two working days of his knowledge of the seriousness of the material loss.
3. If the employee, despite a written warning, fails to comply with written instructions which are required to be observed for the safety of workers or the establishment, provided that such instructions are posted up in a prominent place in the workplace.
4. If the employee does not attend to the workplace, without legitimate cause, for more than twenty (20) intermittent days or for more than ten consecutive days in one year, provided that such dismissal shall be preceded by warning in writing by the employer to the employee after an absence of ten days in the former instance and an absence of five days in the latter instance.
5. If the employee fails to perform his essential duties under the contract of employment.
6. If the employee discloses, without written permission from the employer, the secrets related to the work.
7. If the employee has been finally sentenced for a crime or misdemeanour involving dishonour, dishonesty or public morals.
8. If the employee is found during the hours of work to be under the influence of alcohol or drugs; or if he has committed an immoral act at the place of work.
9. If the employee assaults his employer or his responsible manager or commits a serious assault upon any of his supervisors of work during the course of employment or for reasons connected therewith.
10. The employee’s failure to comply with the legally prescribed rules concerning the exercise of the right to strike.
11. If the employee becomes unfit to do his work subject to the contract due to a cause attributed thereto such as cancelling his permit to practise his work or loss of the qualifications authorising him to do the mutually agreed work.

If the employee has not committed any of the abovementioned offences, upon dismissal the employee shall be entitled to compensation which varies subject to the type of contract pursuant to Article 111 of the Bahraini Labour Law which stipulates as follows:

1. “If an employer terminates an employment contract of the indefinite period within the first 3 months from the effective date thereof, the worker shall not be entitled to any compensation unless the termination is an unfair dismissal…
2. If an employer terminates an employment contract of an indefinite period without cause or for an unlawful cause three months after the commencement of employment, he shall compensate the worker by the equivalent of two days’ wages for each month of service and at no less than one month’s wages up to a maximum of twelve months’ wages.
3. If an employer terminates an employment contract of the definite period without cause or with an unlawful cause, he shall compensate the worker at the equivalent of the wages for the remaining period of the contract unless the parties mutually agree at a lesser compensation, provided that the agreed compensation shall not be less than three months’ wages or the remaining period of the contract, whichever is less…”

2. Business Related Reasons

Business Related Reasons are mention under Article 110 of the Bahraini Labour Law which states as follows: “An employer may terminate the contract of employment because of the total or partial closure of the establishment, scaling down of its business or replacement of the production system by another that may affect the size of the workforce, provided that the contract’s termination shall not take place except upon giving the Ministry concerning the reason for the termination 30 days before the date of giving the worker notice of termination. In cases other than the total closure of the establishment, the contract of the Bahraini worker who has the same competence and experience as the foreign worker with whom he works in the establishment shall be given priority. 
In case of termination of the contract for any of the reasons provided for in the preceding paragraph, the worker shall be entitled to receive a bonus equivalent to one half of the compensation referred to in Article (111) of this Law.”

The Bahraini Labour Law distinguished between dismissal without a reason, without a justifiable cause and unfair dismissal. If an employee was dismissed on discriminatory grounds it would be considered unfair dismissal. Compensation for each type of dismissal varies based on whether the employee’s contract term is fixed or indefinite. If an employee's contract term is indefinite and is dismissed without a justifiable cause, he/she shall be entitled to compensation by the equivalent of two days’ wages for each month of service and at no less than one month’s wages up to a maximum of twelve months’ wages. On the other hand, if the employee contract term is fixed and is dismissed without a justifiable cause, he/she shall be entitled to compensation at the equivalent of the wages for the remaining period of the contract unless the parties mutually agree at a lesser compensation, provided that the agreed compensation shall not be less than three months’ wages or the remaining period of the contract, whichever is less.

On top of the different compensations mentioned above, if an employee gets unfairly dismissed, he/she shall be entitled to additional compensation equivalent to one-half of the abovementioned compensations due unless the contract provides for higher compensation.

The Bahraini Labour Law does not clearly provide protection to whistleblowers. But under other legislation such as the Penal Code whistleblowing is recognized as a mitigating factor.

As per the Bahraini Labour Law, employers shall maintain a file for each employee containing all particulars related thereto, especially: his name, age, CPR, marital status, residential address and nationality; position or occupation, his experience and qualifications; the date of engagement for employment, wage and any changes occurring thereto; the leaves he has taken and the penalties imposed on him; the date of termination of service and the reasons therefor.

The employer shall also maintain on such file the minutes of investigation, the report of his supervisors on his work performance, as determined in the basic regulations of the establishment, as well as any other documents related to the employee’s service. The employer shall also maintain the employee’s file for at least two (2) years from the date of the termination of the working relationship. Such data may be considered as personal data and as a result, shall not be transferred freely to other countries except upon obtaining the employee’s explicit consent.

The non-interference, in any way, with other peoples’ correspondence and telephonic conversations is what we understand from your intention behind the use of the word privacy. As for the right to privacy, it has been dealt with under various legislations of Bahraini law. The paramount source of provisions protecting privacy is the Constitution which states under Article 26 that:

“Freedom of postal, telegraphic and telephonic communications and the secrecy thereof shall be guaranteed. No communications shall be censored nor the contents thereof revealed except in cases of necessity prescribed by the law and in accordance with the procedures and guarantees stated therein.”

This Article founds and consolidates the principle of the right to privacy, therefore any practice offending the privacy of a person constitutes a violation of the Constitution.

Other subordinate legislations also encompass this area to a more effective degree in the sense that they provide for the consequences of any violation of this right to privacy. The first to mention is Article 372 of the Penal Code consolidated by Decree 15/1976 which states that:

“ A fine not exceeding BD 20 shall be the penalty for any person who opens a letter or telegram against the will of the addressee or eavesdrop on a telephone conversation.

An offender shall be liable for imprisonment for a period not exceeding 6 months or a fine not exceeding BD 50 if he divulges the contents of the letter, telegram, or a telephone conversation to a person other than that to whom it has been intended and without the permission thereof should such action cause damage thereto.”

Therefore, the violation of the privacy of persons constitutes a crime that is punishable by a pecuniary sentence or a custodial sentence if such violating action causes damage to anyone.

A higher pecuniary sentence is introduced under Article 75(2) of the Communications Law promulgated by Decree No. 48/2002. The said Article reads as follows:

“ Without prejudice to any other severer sentence stipulated under the Penal Code or any other legislation: A fine not exceeding ten thousand Bahraini Dinars shall be inflicted on anyone who uses telecommunications equipment or telecommunications networks with the intent to:

a)….

b) Eavesdrop or divulge the secrecy of any telephonic conversation or any information pertaining to the content of any message, its sender or its receiver, unless a permission or court order was obtained from the court of competent jurisdiction.”

The exception highlighted under Article 75(2) of the draft Communications Law is further elaborated under the new law on Criminal Proceedings promulgated by Decree 46/2002 coming into effect on the 1st February 2003. Article 93 of this law states that:

“Public prosecution may restrain at the post offices all letters, correspondence, prints, journals and parcels; and at the telegram offices all telegram; and to monitor wiry and cordless conversations and correspondence; and to record conversations taking place in private sites so long as such actions have the advantage of revealing facts relevant to a felony or misdemeanor that is punishable by imprisonment.

To carry out any of the above procedures, prior permission must be obtained from the judge of the court of minor causes, the judge gives such permission having seen the papers. And in all cases, the restraining, monitoring or recording must be based on a reasoned order and for a period not exceeding 30 days, renewable for a similar period or periods.”

This signifies that any tapping or eavesdropping activity is prohibited, and no one is permitted to carry out such prohibited activities except the public prosecution and only where such activity serves the purposes of revealing facts relevant to felonies or misdemeanor. And in all cases, prosecution may not carry out the said prohibited activities unless a prior court order is granted.

Yes, Employers are prohibited from discriminating between workers based on sex, ethnicity, language, religion and belief pursuant to Article 2 bis of the Bahraini Labour Law.

The Bahraini Labour Law provides employees with various types of leaves which did not change in the past 12 months. These leaves are as follows:

Annual leave

A worker who has completed at least one year’s service with his employer shall be entitled to annual leave on full pay for a period of not less than 30 days. If an employee’s period of service is less than one year, he shall be entitled to such leave upon a quantum meruit in respect of the proportion of his service in that year.

The employer has the right to schedule the dates of annual leave according to the business requirements and conditions. A worker shall go on leave on the date and for the period fixed by his employer. However, an employee shall be entitled to remain off duty for a contingency reason for a period not exceeding 6 days during the year with a maximum of two days in each case. Such contingency leave shall be considered as part of the employee’s annual leave entitlements.

An exception to when the employee may schedule his/her own leave is he/she has to sit for an examination at any educational level, provided that notice shall be given to the employer, at least 30 days before going on leave.

An employee may not waive his/her entitlement to leave but may receive cash consideration in lieu thereof. The balance of annual leaves and the corresponding wage thereof shall be settled by the employer every two years as a maximum.

In all cases, an employee shall have annual leave for a period of fifteen days including no less than six consecutive days.

Sick Leave

Only employees that have completed three months of service are entitled to sick leave. An employee will only be considered sick if his/her case of sickness was certified by one of the government health centers or a clinic recognized by the employer. Each year, a worker is entitled to 15 days sick leave with full pay in addition to 20 days sick leave with half pay and 20 days without pay.

Maternity Leave

Female employees shall be entitled to maternity leave on full pay for 60 days which shall include the period before and after their confinement provided that they produce a medical certificate attested by a government health center or one of the clinics approved by the employer stating the expected date of her confinement.

In addition, female employees may obtain an additional leave without pay because of their confinement for a period of 15 days in addition to the aforesaid 60 days. An employer is also prohibited from employing a female employee on her confinement day and for the next 40 days following that.

Moreover, female employees shall be entitled to obtain leave without pay to provide care for her child who is not more than six years of age for a maximum of 6 months in each case and for three times throughout the period of her service.

Miscellaneous leave

An employee shall be entitled to 3 days leave on full pay in the following circumstances:

• In the event of his/her marriage only once.
• Death of his/her spouse or one of his relatives to the fourth degree of relationship.
• Death of his/her spouse’s relatives to the second degree of relationship.

In addition, a worker is entitled to leave for one day on full pay upon the birth of his child.

If the employee is a married Muslim female, and in case her husband dies, she shall be entitled to leave for one month on full pay. She shall also be entitled to complete the death of Eddah from her annual leave for three months and ten days. If she does not have a remaining annual leave balance, she shall be entitled to leave without pay.

Article 73 of the Bahraini Labour Law stipulates as follows: “If an employee’s job allows him to be acquainted with the employer’s customers or to have access to confidential business information, the two parties may agree that the employee shall not, upon the termination of the contract, compete with the employer nor participate in any project that is competitive thereto.

Such agreement shall be valid if the following conditions are fulfilled:

• An employee shall have attained eighteen years of age at the time of concluding the contract.
• The restriction shall be limited as to time for a period not exceeding one year after the termination of the employment contract and shall be limited in terms of place and type of work to the protection of the employer’s legitimate interests.

An employer shall not invoke such an agreement if the contract is terminated or if its renewal has been rejected without any justifiable action on the worker’s part. He shall not invoke such an agreement if the worker’s termination of the contract is justifiable.”

Employees may not be terminated for refusing to sign a restrictive covenant, usually restrictive covenants are incorporated in the contract of employment and not signed separately.

Yes, Article 2 Law on Social Insurance Promulgated by Amiri Decree-Law No. 24 of 1976 (“GOSI Law”) states that:

“The provisions of this Law shall be applied compulsorily to all workers without discrimination as to sex, nationality, or age, who work by virtue of an employment contract for the benefit of one or more employers, or for the benefit of an enterprise in the private, co-operative, or para-statal sectors and, unless otherwise provided for, those engaged in public organizations or bodies, and also those employees and workers in respect of whom Law No. 13 of 1975 does not apply, and irrespective of the duration, nature or form of the contract, or the amount or kind of wages paid or whether the service is performed in accordance with the contract within the country or for the benefit of the employer outside the country or whether the assignment to work abroad is for a limited or an unlimited period.”

Article 5 of the Social Insurance Law states that:

“The application of this Law to employers and workers shall be compulsory.”

The payments must be made in a timely manner. Interest will accrue and will be payable by the employer. The current rate paid by the employer is 12% and 6% of the total wage paid by the employee.

Most provisions of the Bahraini Labour Law are considered as commanding principles that may not be contravened. These provisions include but are not limited to, annual and sick leave entitlements, wages and working hours. The Bahraini Labour Law sets out the minimum requirements such as 30 days of annual leave and similarly the maximum threshold in other cases such as 48 working hours per week. However, employers are free to amend these requirements for the benefit of the employees. For example, an employer may grant an employee more than 30 days of annual leave and require the employee to work for less than 8 hours per day.

Article 115 of the Bahraini Labour Law provides that an employer may terminate the contract without compensation if the employee attains the age of sixty unless the parties agree otherwise.

The right to terminate an employee’s contract if the employee attains the age of sixty does not entitle the employer to cease pension or insured benefits.

Under the Bahraini Labour Law, an employer may not make the COVID-19 vaccine mandatory for its employees, and accordingly, an employer may not simply terminate the employee’s employment due to the employee’s refusal to be vaccinated.

Yes, the general principle under the Bahraini Labour Law is that the employer is free to organize his institution as he deems necessary. Therefore, in the absence of a governmental order to shut down, the employer can require that employees return to work in the office.

In case the employee refuses to return to the office, the employer may terminate the employee on the grounds of unjustifiable absence pursuant to paragraph (4) of Article 107 of the Labour Law which stipulates as follows: “If the employee absents himself from work, without legitimate cause, for more than twenty (20) intermittent days or for more than ten consecutive days in one year, provided that such dismissal shall be preceded by warning in writing by the employer to the employee after an absence of ten days in the former instance and an absence of five days in the latter instance.”