Hiring in a country with different employment compliance laws, cultural norms, and employee expectations can be challenging. Instead of spending months trying to figure out how to recruit and hire employees in Qatar, you can choose a better option.
As a global Employer of Record (EOR), we’ll hire employees to work on your behalf without the stress of establishing your own subsidiary.
Recruiting in Qatar
Understanding the local culture is only one side of the recruitment process. You should also consider some of the logistics of recruiting in Qatar, including the best channels for sourcing talent and certain legal responsibilities.
Sourcing talent is the first step of the recruitment process. You can advertise your open positions online and in local newspapers. As you do, remember that most business in the country is conducted in Arabic, so you might need to work with a translator throughout your recruitment efforts.
Laws against discrimination in Qatar
Companies must follow all relevant laws in Qatar during the recruitment process. The constitution has a framework in place to prevent discriminatory practices. The law protects all individuals in Qatar from discrimination based on:
- Race
- Sex
- Language
- Religion
To avoid compliance issues, companies should avoid asking candidates any direct questions about any of the above traits.
How to hire employees in Qatar
Since Qatar has a large number of nationals from other countries, companies often need to sponsor a work permit to hire an employee. It’s important to clarify whether you’ll sponsor only the employee’s work and residency permit or the candidate’s family’s residency permits. Many companies will also help the spouse and children get residency permits when hiring Qatar employees.
Qatar employment laws
Companies must hire all employees under an employment contract in the local language. Per law, contracts must include the nature and type of work, place of work, contract start and duration, and compensation information. We also recommend including benefits, termination, entitlement terms, and more to make sure there is no confusion. Any compensation, salary, or bonus amounts in an offer letter or employment contract need to be in Qatari riyal instead of another currency.
Once hired, the standard workweek in Qatar is 40 hours, reduced to 36 weekly hours during Ramadan. Workers should receive at least 24 hours of rest per week, typically taken on Friday. Overtime is permitted up to 2 hours per day and must be paid at a rate of at least 125% of standard pay.
Onboarding in Qatar
Once you learn how to hire employees in Qatar, you need to onboard new hires and stay compliant with the country’s laws. Although there isn’t one way you must onboard employees, you can make them more comfortable by:
- Meeting with new employees on their first day or week.
- Onboarding several employees at one time to save time and promote team bonding.
- Providing job training tailored to the employee’s position.
- Reviewing all employment contracts, visas, and similar documents.
- Creating events for new employees to get to know each other and the company.
Grow globally with G-P.
G-P never forgets that behind every hire is a human being. That’s why we’ve backed our fully customizable suite of global employment products with our robust team of HR and legal experts, so we can remain at your side, ready to support you as you build your global teams. With the #1 Global Growth Platform™, you have the recruitment tools and services you need to find your perfect full-time or contract match.
Contact us today to learn more about how we can help you recruit, hire, and onboard anyone, anywhere.