Amnesty International’s report All work, no pay: The struggle of Qatar’s migrant workers for justice, released on 19 September 2019, analysed the effectiveness of ‘Committees for the Settlement of Labour Disputes’ established in March 2018 with the declared aim of facilitating migrant workers’ access to justice and remedy.

Despite promised reforms, Amnesty International’s research found that migrant workers using the complaints mechanism have yet to reap the benefits. Amnesty International investigated the efforts of 1,620 workers from three companies, Hamton International, United Cleaning and Hamad Ben Khalid Ben Hamad(HKH), whose clients include government entities, to claim months of unpaid wages by submitting complaints to the Committees. After lengthy and costly processes, none of the workers received compensation directly from the Committees. Even when compensation was awarded, workers had to resort to civil courts to seek enforcement. Hundreds left home penniless in desperation after months of living in destitution, while others were forced to accept partial and less favourable settlements.

Amnesty have detailed a set of recommendations to the companies operating in Qatar, including:

• Comply fully with Qatari and international labour standards, including with regard to respecting the terms and conditions guaranteed to workers in their contracts, maximum working hours, the payment of workers on time, provision of decent accommodation, protection of workers' health and safety, forced labour and providing them with legal documentation.
• Publicly commit to respecting human rights and put in place adequate systems to enable the company to become aware of and prevent human rights abuses as a consequence of its operations.
• Allow workers to move to other employers in Qatar on request and avoid pressuring workers to withdraw their cases in courts in exchange for the permission to change jobs.
• Engage with legal proceedings brought up by workers before courts and stop undermining ex-workers’ claims to an adequate remedy by pushing them into a situation where they have little choice but to accept less favourable settlements.

Amnesty International wrote to all three companies to present findings but received no response. The companies also refused to engage with the Committee’s legal process.

Responding to Amnesty’s report, the Qatari government noted its labour reforms and ongoing collaboration with the ILO to ensure their effectiveness.