KUWAIT: The Public Authority of Manpower on Sunday further cancelled more financial guarantees taken from employers as security deposits to ensure the rights of expat workers in case of labor disputes. Kuwaiti employers were required to pay a security deposit of KD 250 per expat worker for several types of workers, especially those in menial jobs, as insurance for their rights. The deposit was managed by the manpower authority, which was authorized to withdraw from it to pay workers.
Since then, the security deposit has been cancelled for several types of workers, but remained mostly on employees working on government contracts, like cleaning. The authority said in a statement on Sunday that the security deposit for the activities of cleaning, security (guards) and handling, as well as security deposits for absentee workers, have been cancelled.
The cancellation also includes workers who were handed a final court verdict, in addition to commercial licenses of citizens of Gulf Cooperation
Council (GCC) states. The financial deposits decision was issued at a time when a large number of expat workers were denied payment of salaries or their wages were delayed for several months, leading to labor strikes.
Meanwhile, the Kuwaiti government on Sunday officially abolished the lucrative Afya health insurance scheme for tens of thousands of retired Kuwaiti citizens that allowed them to seek medical care at private health institutions. An Amiri decree was published in the official gazette Kuwait Al-Youm on Sunday, meaning the scheme was officially cancelled.
The government suspended the scheme in Oct 2024 for a year to review the entire system and its cost amid claims that the scheme which covered more than 150,000 retirees was too expensive and cost several hundred million dinars. The decree’s explanatory note affirmed on Sunday that the scheme was too costly, especially as the services can be offered by government health institutions.
