Employer advises workers to take 'temporary jobs'

KUWAIT: A group of some 20 Filipino employees working with a private company in Kuwait lodged a complaint with the office of Philippine labor attach�, accusing their employer of non-payment of salaries, breach of contract and lying about legal residency in Kuwait. In a recent interview with the Kuwait Times, workers claimed that they were hired locally for an immediate placement at a well-known restaurant to open soon in Kuwait. However, according to the men, months have passed by and the restaurant has not opened. As a result, the workers have not been paid salaries for months.

We were hired in February this year. The company required us to resign from our previous jobs with a promise of immediate employment," says Melvin, a spokesman of the group. "We did resign, and left our previous work. We provided the new employer with our legal documents only to find out that all our papers were not transferred and renewed as we had been informed at first," Melvin asserted. "They lied to us claiming that our papers were already transferred and renewed. This wasn't the case; we were left believing we were transferred but in fact we were not," he claimed.

According to him, the group found out they were working illegally when they demanded that salary be paid for months of training and preparation for an expected 'big day' opening; but the it was not given. "From the time we resigned, we were promised to be paid salaries; it was a promise made to us by our employer. The regular training has been going on for over two months, and we were supposed to be paid. We were told that we would be paid regardless of whether the restaurants opens or not," Melvin said.


The workers claim they have not been paid salaries since March. When the workers demanded their salaries, the company provided only one month's salary, and promised to settle their remaining dues when restaurants begin operations, which was then tentatively set to open on May 10, 2010. For unclear reasons, the scheduled restaurant opening has been delayed, and the workers decided to turn for legal help. "May 10th arrived and there was no grand opening. This is when our suffering began. Besides, the restaurant owner refused to pay us any salary," Melvin said. He explained that the employer had advised them to find a temporary job instead. "How can we find a temporary job when we are legally employed by them," Melvin queried.

Besides the workers' documents had already expired, awaiting transfer, "We were told to pay our fines with the threat that if we cannot; they'll just turn us over to the police. We did pay fines from our pockets, but again they failed to secure our iqamas (work residency). In order to transfer the iqama, I paid KD 340 as a fine; some paid KD 76 each for their visa transfer; but visas were not transferred. Now, they are denying they received the money we gave them," Melvin claimed.

The dire situation exacerbated after the workers found out that the employer has been hiring new employees from the Philippines, "Please do not allow them to hire new Filipino workers. Let them (the employer) settle their problems first with us. We are afraid they might suffer the same fate as we did. Besides, they are not honest employers. They should pay us first before allowing them to hire new workers," the workers informed embassy officials.

The aggrieved workers want to settle their unpaid salaries as soon as possible; receive their money back and be transferred to new employers immediately. In the words of Philippine Labor Attache to Kuwait Vivo Vidal, "We will try to negotiate with the company on their behalf and get the answer as soon as possible. We'll try to open the line of communications/dialogue to resolve this case swiftly.

The Philippine Labor Office also assured workers that the company cannot hire new workers from the Philippines unless they settle dispute with their workers, "No, they cannot hire new Pinoy workers unless the company settles their problems with these workers. We'll try to contact them (the company) as soon as possible and the complaining workers issues are resolved," Vidal concluded. - Ben Garcia, Staff Writer, Kuwait Times, September 20, 2010