A major training programme designed to enhance the capacity of the Labour Inspection Department of the Ministry of Administrative Development, Labour and Social Affairs (ADLSA) is underway with the support of the ILO Project Office for the State of Qatar.

The training responds to one of the key findings of an assessment of the labour inspection system carried out by ADLSA and the ILO. Several recommendations were put forward, based on a thorough review and consultations as well as the comments of the ILO Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations. Priorities included the need for the Labour Inspection Department to carry out strategic compliance planning and to enhance operational capacity through training in line with the National Policy for Labour Inspection.
     
To this end, ADLSA established a Strategic Office within the Labour Inspection Department at the end of 2018 to guide labour inspection activities. A training plan for 2019-2022 was subsequently developed by the Strategic Office in collaboration with the Institute of Public Administration (IPA) and the ILO.

In September 2019, instructors of the IPA participated in an intensive training of trainers course led by experts from the ILO’s International Training Centre (ILO-ITC). Following this, IPA staff began rolling out the training to all ADLSA labour inspectors.  

Abdulaziz Abujabra, Head of the Strategic Office, said, “This training programme will provide a refresher for existing inspectors, as well as a comprehensive induction for any newly recruited inspectors. It will help ensure that all inspectors have the same grounding so they can evaluate cases and make decisions in an effective and consistent manner.” 

The training comprises a series of thematic modules including general labour inspection skills and reporting, labour legislation, forced labour, protection of wages, recruitment, occupational safety and health, accommodation, heat stress and occupational accident investigation.

The IPA has been involved in developing the course and will institutionalize these modules, as Khawla Alkuwari, Training Expert and Member of the Strategic Office explains.

“In the preparation of this course trainers from the IPA have gained a strong understanding of the operational realities faced by labour inspectors. These experiences have been incorporated into the training with the support of international experts,” she said.

Meanwhile, other major recommendations of the labour inspection assessment carried out to date include streamlining the workflow and enhancing existing systems to compile and analyse data. This will support the department’s transition away from the traditional enforcement model driven by reactive and routine inspections, towards a strategic approach focusing on specific sectors and issues.

Marialaura Fino, Technical Specialist at the ILO Project Office in Doha said, “The assessment of the labour inspection system provided a road map to improve efficiency, quality and impact of labour inspection services in Qatar. Good progress is being made so far in the implementation of some of the recommendations. We are convinced that continued collaboration as part of the ongoing technical cooperation project will facilitate the reaching of additional milestones.”