Kuwait National Petroleum Company (KNPC) has formed a social welfare committee, which will help familiarise foreign workers with their rights based on their contracts as well as Kuwait labor laws.
It conducted the first round of education at KNPC’s Clean Fuel Project, which has around 50,000 workers who are working under 40 contracts with different contractors dealing with the company.
They received introductory pamphlets in eight languages–Arabic, English, Korean, Japanese, Hindi, Urdu, Chinese and Tagalog– and were also subject to personal and collective interview with the committee. A statement from KNPC calls this the “first step to familiarise them with their rights.”
A few key topics include working hours, how to calculate overtime, salaries, entitlements, housing, and measures to be taken when the temperature is too high.
The committee also conducts audits, periodically, to detemine the contractors’ compliance with Kuwaiti labor laws as well as KNPC procedures.
The committee stressed during its meetings with these employees the importance of complying with these requirements and implementing them strictly to ensure their safety and to maintain equipment and facilities.
