Private sector employment is governed by the Labour Law, Law No. 6 of 2010, and by the ministerial resolutions issued under it. Work permits and the employment file are administered by the Public Authority of Manpower under Law No. 109 of 2013. Residence is governed by the Foreigners' Residence Law, Decree-Law No. 114 of 2024, which replaced the 1959 decree and changed the permitted durations, the sponsorship rules and the notification obligations placed on employers. Employers still working from the old position are the ones most often caught out.
We prepare and review employment contracts, staff regulations and handbooks, disciplinary and grievance procedures, and confidentiality, intellectual property and non-competition provisions drafted to be enforceable under Kuwaiti law rather than copied from a jurisdiction where they would be. Our advice covers working hours and leave, end of service indemnity and how it is calculated, transfer of residency and sponsorship, work permit and visa requirements, wage protection, and the treatment of employees on restructuring, outsourcing or transfer of an undertaking.
Where disciplinary action or dismissal is contemplated, we advise on the procedure that has to be followed before it is implemented, because in practice the procedure decides the case more often than the reason does. Where a dispute has arisen, we represent employers before the Ministry of Labour and the Public Authority of Manpower, before the Experts Committee under the Labour Court, before the Experts Department and before the courts, and we advise on settlement where settlement is the better outcome.
Employee claims
The firm acts for employees dismissed without lawful cause, and for those whose allowances, benefits and outstanding entitlements were withheld on termination. We advise on the correct basis of calculation before a claim is filed, because most disputes over end of service indemnity are disputes about what counts as remuneration rather than about the formula.
We file claims before the Public Authority of Manpower and the Experts Committee under the Labour Court, and conduct proceedings before the courts where a settlement cannot be obtained on acceptable terms. Our work includes ending an existing employment relationship and transferring residency and sponsorship to a new employer, recovery of end of service indemnity in the amount prescribed by the Labour Law, notice, accrued leave and unpaid wages, and the release of the documents an employee needs in order to take up new employment.
A dedicated team is assigned to these matters, and advice is given in Arabic, English, French, Spanish, Italian, Hindi and Malayalam, so that a client understands each stage of the procedure and the position of the claim at every point in it. An employee who does not understand what is happening to their file is at a disadvantage that has nothing to do with the merits.
Contracts, settlement agreements and correspondence are prepared in both English and Arabic. Bilingual documentation removes any question as to what has been agreed, and ensures that no client is asked to sign terms they have not read in their own language.