Legal Question in Employment Law in Kuwait

01.04.2015

Dear Sir / Madam,

Let me first rephrase your query correctly :

Query : I'm working 8 years in Kuwait private sector in a retail clothing store. I renewed my passport last February, 2014 and I submitted my renewed Passport to my Employer to be retained by the Employer in safe custody when my employment contract was renewed for one year duration in April, 2014. I and my reporting Manager realized in November, 2014 that my renewed Passport has been lost by my Employer. I therefore applied for a duplicate Passport which will be released by the Indian Embassy this coming May, 2015. My visa has expired on 31st March, 2015. My salary for the month of March, 2015 has been withheld by the Company. When I checked with my reporting Manager and the Accounts Department in our Company to justify the reason for withholding my salary, they informed me that the Operations Manager has requested them to hold my salary starting March, 2015 as long as I do not provide my Duplicate Passport to the Company. I have two sons dependent on me here in Kuwait and one in the Phillipines. Since my Visa has expired, I fear I will be caught as a result of the crackdown. I am the sole earning member of my family. Please give me an advice.

Answer : First and foremost, when you realized in November, 2014 that your Passport was lost by your Employer whilst in his / her custody, your Employer ought to have immediately lodged a Police complaint reporting the lost Passport, and given you all the necessary papers for applying for a Duplicate Passport with your Embassy locally in Kuwait. Issue of a Duplicate Passport does not take more than three months, hence if your Employer had lodged the Police complaint in November, 2014 itself, and you had then applied for a Duplicate Passport, you would have received the Duplicate Passport from your Embassy in February, 2015, well before the expiry of your one year employment contract. Now, the Employer is at legal fault on two counts if :

1. If the Employer has inordinately delayed informing the local Police of your Passport loss, and if the Employer has delayed giving you the necessary papers to apply for your Duplicate Passport and;

2. If the Employer retains your salary on the pretext that your salary from March, 2015 onwards has been withheld by the Company till you submit the Duplicate Passport without any valid justification for no fault of yours.

In my opinion, you should write the above facts in an inward memo to your reporting Head, and copied to the Employer, Operations Head and the Accounts Department asking for :

a). any valid reason(s) and / or justification(s) for the refusal by the Company to pay up and settle your March, 2015 salary and;

b). providing you either a confirmation letter of your contract being under renewal for a further period of one year from April, 2015 till March, 2016; or else stating in a letter that your contract will not be renewed further, and that it has been terminated by the Company.

So, either way the Company has to pay you and settle your salary, and if they issue you a non-renewal of contract and termination of service letter, they remain liable to settle your full and final settlement dues.

Please proceed further as directed above.

Regards,