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Legal consultation: Question: The tenant of an apartment says that the landlord has informed all the tenants in the property about increase of rents by a thousand riyals on the current rents. He says that this increase is very high and so the tenant start Thursday, 21 July 2011 01:24
By Abdelaal A Khalil
Question: The tenant of an apartment says that the landlord has informed all the tenants in the property about increase of rents by a thousand riyals on the current rents. He says that this increase is very high and so the tenant started searching for another apartment and he found an apartment at a reasonable price but he cannot receive it except after one month from the date of expiry of the current lease. Can he continue in current apartment for one month after the expiry of the contract, knowing that he has not received a warning of increased rental value and the owner refused to receive payment?
The real state law No 4/2008 indicates that if the lease period expires and the tenant continues in the property without any objection from the landlord, the contract will be renewed for a similar period, and if the landlord did not inform tenant about increasing the rental value of leased apartment it is permissible for the tenant to continue in leased apartment as the landlord did not ask the tenant to vacate the leased premises and did not object on his stay legally. He can pay rental value through the Dispute Settlement Committee with the same current rental value without any increase.
Question: An employee working in a private company under a contract of employment includes the amendment to housing allowance when bringing the family to stay with him in Qatar, and after he brings his family to stay the company rejected the adjustment of his status, similar to his colleagues at work on the grounds to reconsider the regulations and decisions relating to premium housing allowance. He is asking whether the company has the right of refusal to adjustment of his status even though he met all the required conditions, and what to do?
The Labour Law No. 14/2004 regarding the employment relationship between the worker and the employer indicates that the employment contract must be written and attested by the management and produced in three copies, one of them will be delivered to each of the parties and third copy shall be deposited to the management, and the employment contract shall determine the provisions for employment relationship between both parties,
And it must include the worker’s name, qualifications, nationality, profession, place of residence and what he needs to prove his identity and date of the contract and the nature and type of work and place of the contract and date of commencement of work and the duration of the contract if it has a specified period in addition to the agreed wage and the manner and time of payment, if the employment contract was not written the worker may prove employment relationship and the rights which have arisen for him in all methods of proof. The law also indicates that the employer who employs ten or more workers must put a list to organize the work in the business, and it is obliged for implementation the list of regulations and any modifications thereof to present them to management for approval, if the management does not approve the list the within one month from the date of submission it would be considered approved and the list will be announced in a visible place in the institution to inform the workers about it, and it will not be considered effective in their right but only after the passage of fifteen days from the date of its announcement.
By applying the above it becomes clear that it is legally prohibited to deny housing allowance for an employee, who brought his family to stay with him in Qatar according to agreed upon contract. If there is a modification or reconsideration regarding applied regulations, such amendments must be approved first from the management of the work, and it will be applied to workers and staff only after fifteen days since it was placed on bulletin board of company, therefore, the employee can approach the the labour office to file a complaint against the company, where he works and with the complaint he should attach a copy of work contract and evidence of stay with his family in Qatar, and a statement of account of the bank, which transfers his salary.