"Lebanon rejects new migrant worker contract", MEM 30 October 2020

A court in Lebanon suspended plans on Wednesday to introduce a new migrant worker contract that would have replaced the long-criticised kafala system.

The State Council ruled in favour of temporarily suspending the contract after an appeal by the recruitment agency federation, Domestic Worker Recruitment, on 14 October.

The court said it had rejected the new contract’s implementation because it could inflict “huge harm to the worker recruitment sector”, a decision seen by Agence France Presse (AFP) said.

The new contract, which was meant to “[enshrine] the rights” of foreign workers who are excluded from Lebanon’s labour laws, was initially approved by the country’s Labour Ministry in September.

It would have given migrant workers more rights, including a guaranteed weekly rest day, overtime pay, sick pay, annual leave, the national minimum wage and the ability to resign at will.

The contract would also have allowed migrant workers to keep hold of their passports, in an effort to stop employers confiscating travel documents and effectively trapping domestic workers.