US embassy cable - 05KUWAIT1752

UNCLAS KUWAIT 001752 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR G/TIP, NEA/ARPI 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM, PGOV, ELAB, KU, Labor 
SUBJECT: HELP JUST A CALL AWAY: FOREIGN LABORERS TO PHONE 
IN COMPLAINTS 
 
REF: A. KUWAIT 1732 
     B. KUWAIT 1729 
 
Only days after the unprecedented laborer attack on the 
Bangladeshi Embassy (ref A,B), the GOK established a hotline 
that foreign laborers can use to lodge complaints against 
their employers. The Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor 
announced that the around-the-clock hotline, which began 
operation April 29, can receive complaints via telephone and 
fax. The hotline's primary function is to ensure that workers 
are being paid on time and in accordance with their labor 
contracts. Under Article 134 of the Kuwaiti labor law, any 
company delinquent in salary payments more than 15 days can 
be prosecuted. Punishments include reimbursing the workers 
from company deposits with the Ministry, freezing all 
business transactions between the company and any government 
entity and suspending the company's ability to sponsor new 
expatriate employees. The withholding of workers' salaries of 
up to five months precipitated the April 24 Bangladeshi 
revolt and more commonly afflicts the unskilled, Asian 
expatriate labor force. 
LEBARON