By Faten Omar

KUWAIT: The joint tripartite commission, led by the General Administration of Residence Affairs' Investigations, organized a sudden inspection security campaign in several Salmiya malls on Tuesday. The inspection resulted in the arrest of 19 violators of labor law, who were referred to the proper authorities to take necessary measures against them.

Dr Fahd Al-Murad

The campaign was launched with the aim of inspecting workers in Salmiya and detect those who violate the labor law, Dr Fahd Al-Murad, Director of the Labor Inspection Department at Public Authority for Manpower (PAM), said on the sidelines of the campaign. "Today's campaign aimed at regulating the labor market, where we spotted several violations in several malls in Salmiya," he said. "Several booth salesmen were working illegally, and there were many unlicensed booths."

Murad revealed that most of the workers that were arrested have family visas (article 22) and there were children aged under 18 among the workers. He stressed that PAM does not issue work permits for juveniles, unless under certain conditions. "A special work permit must be issued for juveniles, most of whom are employed in the summer for a short period," he explained. "Article 19 of the labor law prohibits the employment of children under the age of 15, and Article 20 regulates the work of those who are 15-18 years old according to specific conditions. So far, no company has come to issue a work permit for juveniles."

Crackdown targets labor law breakers in Salmiya
Crackdown targets labor law breakers in Salmiya
Crackdown targets labor law breakers in Salmiya

As for the violators, he indicated that there are two penalties; a criminal penalty for violating Article 10 of the labor law, punished by a fine ranging from KD 2,000 to 10,000, and/or imprisonment for up to three years. The other penalty is taken against the company; the employer's file will be suspended and followed up to verify that he is not practicing his business. Murad affirmed that any employment of a worker in the labor market under the name 'training period' or 'part-time job' is considered illegal.

Ibrahim Al-Sabaan

In the meantime, Ibrahim Al-Sabaan, the head of the emergency team at Kuwait Municipality - Hawalli Governorate branch, said, "We have cooperated with the joint committee to control several workers carrying out an activity not mentioned in the company's license. An administrative closure will be requested by the municipality."

"We usually inspect public places, but recently it was monitored that booth workers escaped when we enter the mall, so we formed the team today to monitor those violations. A violation has now been issued and there will be a serious penalty on the worker or the license holder of a fine ranging from KD 500 to 1,000 and a travel ban," he noted.