The Kuwaiti private sector labor law aims to regulate the relationship between the worker and the employer, and establishes the rights and obligations of each party towards the other in the work contract, and governs the powers of the employer and regulates the resulting effects of this contract.
This law also came to protect workers as the weaker party to the work contract, while the employer is the one who imposes his conditions and authority in organizing his facility by assigning the worker to work other than agreed upon, and employing him for additional hours on official holidays and weekly vacations, determining the retirement age for his workers and dismissal The worker is dismissed from work without an announcement or reward, and the worker is disciplinaryly penalized, and the date of the worker’s annual leave is determined.
The powers of the employer in regulating his establishment
Assigning the worker to a job other than the agreed upon
The Kuwaiti Court of Cassation, in its ruling No. 224 of 2011 dated 4/15/2014, states that the employer has the absolute authority to manage his facility, organize work in it, and assign the worker to work other than the agreed upon whenever the interest of the work so requires, even if it is less advantage or appropriate when His practice was devoid of any intent to offend his worker.
Employing the worker overtime
According to Article No. 66 of the Kuwaiti Labor Law, it is permissible, according to a written order from the employer, to work overtime if that is necessary to prevent the occurrence of a dangerous accident, to repair what resulted from it, to avoid an actual loss, or to face work that exceeds the daily amount, and the additional working hours shall not exceed Two hours per day and a maximum of one hundred and eighty hours annually, and the worker receives a wage for the period of overtime that exceeds his normal wage in the same period by at least 25%, and this is what was decided by the ruling of the Kuwaiti Court of Cassation No. 84 of 2011 on 4/15/2014, the Labor Department .
Employing the worker on weekly rest days or official holidays
The Labor Department of the Kuwaiti Court of Cassation ruled in Judgment No. 84 of 2011 on 4/15/2014 that the employer has the right to employ the worker on weekly rest days or official holidays without requiring a written order to do so, if work conditions require his employment there, and the worker receives 50% At least from his wages in addition to his original wages, and he shall compensate for the day of his rest with another day of rest.
Disciplinary punishment of the offending worker
The ruling of the Kuwaiti Court of Cassation No. 189 of 2012 dated 17/4/2013 stated that it is the employer’s authority to impose penalties on workers who violate the internal system or the legal and regulatory texts, unless fifteen days have passed since the date on which the worker was proven to have committed the violating act.
Dismissal of the worker from work without advertisement or remuneration
The employer may dismiss the worker without notice or remuneration if there are justifications for the dismissal, which is the absence of the worker without a legitimate reason for more than seven consecutive days. The worker is excluded from his work if he assesses from the circumstances surrounding the time of dismissal that the interest of his establishment requires that, and this is what was decided by the ruling of the Kuwaiti Court of Cassation No. 290 of 2010 on 1/11/2012, the Labor Department.
Determining the retirement age for its employees
The ruling of the Kuwaiti Court of Cassation No. 77 of 2000 dated 1/8/2001 of the Labor Department stated that it is from the powers of the employer to organize his establishment, and this includes setting an age for the retirement of his workers, and therefore, terminating the work contract for the worker to reach the retirement age negates the description of arbitrariness, because he completes the legal period required for retirement.
Determining the date of the annual leave for the worker
The Kuwaiti Court of Cassation decided in its judgment No. 204 of 2007 dated 06/23/2008 that it is the employer’s authority to set the date of the annual leave for the worker and to divide it with the worker’s consent after the first fourteen days thereof. And this consent should be clear and explicit.
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