The Ministry of Labour has terminated the licences of 10 manpower agencies recruiting housemaids for violating the labour law. The decision follows a stringent and continuous evaluation process launched by the Ministry last year. Besides the companies facing closure, as many as 21 agencies have sought permission from the Ministry to voluntarily wind up their business, a senior official disclosed yesterday, while announcing the results of the latest evaluation conducted by the Ministry over the past two months. The Ministry conducts the assessment every six months and classifies the agencies based on their performance. Only agencies recruiting housemaids are subjected to this evaluation, said Fawaz Al Rees, director of the Recruitment Department at the Ministry said at a press conference yesterday. As in the previous assessments, the new results also indicate that majority of the agencies have failed to make the grade in the Ministry list. Of the total 132 companies, only 17 have been given A grade while 36 have been put in the B category. A total of 79 agencies have been classified in the C category indicating a poor performance. Only those agencies that are practically functioning have been included in the evaluation, said an official, hinting that some agencies had become defunct. He said the Ministry rating would give the agencies an opportunity to improve their performance and avail of the privileges that are given to the best performing companies. The agencies have been given the right to challenge the Ministry’s decision if they feel they deserve a better ranking. Faris Al Kaabi, another official from the same department said that complaints about manpower agencies have declined after the Ministry launched this evaluation process. Majority of the complaints are from prospective employers about delays in recruitment of maids. To address this issue, the Ministry is now issuing housemaid visas directly to the agencies that can be later transferred to the respective employers. Such visas are issued only to agencies that are put in the A category. Asked if this would not lead to trading in visas, the official said the agencies have been brought under strict monitoring to prevent such practices. Source : Qatar Chronicle

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