Human Resources Awareness of Qatari Labour Law: Rights and Duties of Employees in Government Institutions

Abstract

This paper will investigate the awareness of the Human Resource (HR) professionals in Qatari government institutions concerning employee rights, duties and legal process under the Labour Law No. 14 of 2004 and the Human Resources Law No. 15 of 2016. The legal awareness is also a vital part of successful human resource management in the public sector because HR practitioners play a crucial role in the compliance of legal frameworks that regulate employment relations. A descriptive quantitative research design was applied, and the data were gathered using structured questionnaire which provided 500 valid responses. The awareness was measured in three aspects, which include employee rights, employee duties, and the legal and administrative procedures. These findings show that there is an average overall awareness of HR professionals. The best dimension was that of awareness of employee rights, which meant being conversant with the routine tasks of an HR like payment of wages, leave, and working hours. There was also moderate awareness of employee responsibilities, especially in the areas of confidentiality and ethical behaviours. Yet, legal and administrative procedures awareness, including grievance management, paperwork, and termination, was the least developed. Such results demonstrate that the increased legal training and capacity-building measures are required to improve procedural knowledge and increase compliance within the government HR departments. The research gives good hands-on information that can help in enhancement of HR governance, uniform policy enforcement, and higher compliance with Qatari labour laws.