(MENAFN- Arab Times) The Health, Social and Labor Affairs Committee in the Parliament on Monday looked into the proposal of the government to amend Article 57 of Private Sector Labor Law Number 6/2010. The article stipulates that the employer, who employs his workers in accordance with the provisions of this law, shall pay the workers' entitlements to their accounts at local financial establishments. He shall also send a copy of statements submitted to these institutions in this regard to the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor.
The article will be amended by the addition of a new clause which will state that, "Some activities, as per a decision issued by the Cabinet, will be exempted from the condition of transferring the salaries of expatriate personnel to local financial institutions such as banks".
According to the explanatory memo of the draft law prepared by the Manpower Public Authority, Article No. 57 obligates employers to send the salaries of their employees to their bank accounts to guarantee that the employees receive their financial dues.
However, transferring salaries of some categories of employees who are involved in simple effortless activities is not necessary. The draft law is aimed to empower the Cabinet to issue a decision for exempting the activities for which the transfer of salaries of the concerned employees to their bank accounts is not required.
A resolution by the Council of Ministers shall be issued based on the proposal of the ministers of Social Affairs, Labor and Finance in order to determine these institutions and the regulations relevant to these accounts in terms of charges, commissions and relevant organizational procedures. Speaking to reporters after the panel's meeting, Committee Rapporteur MP Sadoun Al- Otaibi disclosed they decided to postpone deliberations on the draft law until the government submits a written explanation on the amendment. He added they also adjourned talks on the Pharmaceutical Bill due to the absence of several committee members.
In another development, MP Faisal Al- Kandari said the Parliament speaker and a number of MPs recently discussed the employment process in relation to the strategic alternative to the salary scale with the heads of labor unions in the oil sector. He clarified there has never been a directive to include the oil sector in the strategic alternative, but the implications were highlighted and future directives were discussed. Last week, the oil sector employees threatened to hold a demonstration at the Parliament in protest against their inclusion in the strategic alternative to the salary scale.
Addressing this, Al-Kandari called on the employees to refrain from holding demonstrations and to trust their union leaders and the Parliament as all of them are on their side. In a related development, the Parliament speaker affirmed the oil sector employees will not be included in the strategic alternative unless this is discussed with the union leaders and their requests or comments are taken into consideration. Meanwhile, the Budgets and Final Accounts Committee talked about the mechanism for preparing the budgets of government agencies in the presence of Finance Minister and acting Oil Minister Anas Saleh and Undersecretary of the State Audit Bureau Ismail Al-Ghanim. Committee Chairman MP Adnan AbdulSamad enumerated points tackled in the meeting as follows:
- The mechanisms and principles currently used in drafting the estimated budgets do not consider the steady rise in expenses, which soared four times in less than 10 years while the budget for the new fiscal year was reduced by KD 279 million only. In developed countries, the Ministry of the Treasury monitors the revenues and expenditures of government agencies. It determines government spending trends to ensure the fiscal policies are in line with the development plan. Kuwait's Ministry of Finance must take the first step towards reform by putting the public treasury under the jurisdiction of the undersecretary.
- Huge financial transfers between budget lines unveiled the failure of government agencies to present accurate projections and consider their operational capacity, especially in relation to the construction projects, as these transfers do not reflect their actual operational values. This flaw exists in most of the basic items such as budget estimates for students' allowances. The concerned authority should have taken into consideration the actual number of students plus the estimated number of students that will accepted multiplied by the monthly allowance.
- Regulatory reports are full of complaints about weaknesses, disparities and inefficiency of the accounting systems and internal audit departments in government agencies. This is in addition to repeated complaints on the lack of accountants, even though there are a number of unemployed accountants while most of those employed are assigned in a field which is different from their specialization. This necessitates the Finance Ministry to adopt a strategy to narrow such gaps through the establishment of a budget management sector.
- The big budget deficit, estimated at KD 12 billion, must be addressed through the restructuring of 64 government agencies; particularly those with overlapping functions. This in addition to nine programs of the Council of Ministers and 18 committees as the government spends around KD 4 billion for them.
- The Ministry of Finance must take reform initiatives and make the necessary changes to eliminate financial imbalances. The committee is ready to overcome all obstacles by modifying or presenting legislative conditions to rectify budgetary deviations.
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