This week the spotlight is on employment developments in Kuwait. With effect from June 2019, companies in the private sector who don’t comply with their prescribed Kuwaitisation ratios will be subject to an annual 300 Dinar fee for each work permit issued to a foreign national. The move was announced by the General Authority for Manpower and follows the issuing of a Ministerial Decision in late 2018 which determined the Kuwaitisation levels for companies in various business sectors and the general trend in Kuwait for encouraging the hiring of local employees in the private sector. Further details of the law are expected to be announced in the coming months.

Elsewhere, according to local newspaper reports, the Government has issued a Decree which from 1 April 2019 will reduce the number of expatriates in all Government departments. Following a Ministerial Decision there will be no exceptions to this Decree. Both legislative moves come as the Government looks to raise Kuwaitisation in Government jobs to 90% by the end of the next fiscal year.