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Working in Bahrain

The basic rules on hours, pay, leave, your passport, and changing jobs — and where to get help when they are broken.

The basics at a glance

These are the minimums in Bahrain's Labour Law for people who work for a company. If you work in a household, only some of these apply — see Domestic workers.

Working hours
Up to 8 hours a day, or 48 hours a week. In Ramadan, up to 6 hours a day (36 a week) for Muslim workers.
Overtime
Your pay for those hours plus at least 25% during the day, or plus 50% at night. Work on your day off is paid at 150%, or you get another day off.
Weekly day off
At least one full day (24 hours) off each week — usually Friday.
Paid leave
At least 30 days a year after one year of work (2.5 days for each month). Less than a year: leave in proportion to the time worked.
End-of-service pay
Since March 2024, your employer pays into a fund at the Social Insurance Organization (SIO) every month, and the SIO pays you when the job ends.For work before March 2024, your employer still owes the old amount: half a month's pay for each of your first 3 years, then one month's pay for each year after.
How you are paid
Company workers are paid through the Wage Protection System.
Summer heat
No outdoor work in the sun from 12:00 to 16:00 in the summer months. The exact dates are announced each year (in 2026: 15 June to 31 August).

Your passport is yours

Bahrain's courts have ruled that an employer may not keep a worker's passport. Even so, it still happens, especially to domestic workers.

If your passport has been taken: write down when it happened and who has it, keep a photo or copy of it if you can, and tell the Migrant Workers Office.

Your contract and your pay

Before you left the Philippines, you signed an employment contract approved by the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW). If your employer gives you a worse contract after you arrive — less pay, a different job, longer hours — that is called contract substitution, and it is illegal under Philippine law. Keep a copy of the contract you signed at home.

If you are a domestic worker: your DMW-approved contract must pay at least US$400 a month. (DMW encourages US$500, but in the Gulf it is not required.) A recruitment agency may not charge you a placement fee.

If you are not being paid, keep a record of every missed payday — the dates and the amounts — and any messages about your pay.

Domestic workers: fewer protections

If you work in a household, only some parts of Bahrain's Labour Law apply to you: your contract, your wages, 30 days of paid leave a year, end-of-service pay, protection from discrimination, and the right to bring a dispute without paying court fees.

The law does not set your working hours or your weekly day off. Those come only from your written contract — Bahrain uses a standard three-way contract between you, your employer and the agency. Keep a copy, and check what it says about hours and rest.

Changing jobs and leaving the country

After one year with your employer, you can move to a new employer without your current employer's agreement. You must give notice (sent by registered post; the notice period is at most 3 months), and your new employer applies to the Labour Market Regulatory Authority (LMRA). In your first year, your employer can refuse. Domestic workers can move without the employer's agreement only with the LMRA's permission.

You do not need an exit permit to leave Bahrain. A travel ban ordered by a court can still stop you.

If you are reported as absconding, the time to challenge the report is short — as little as one week for domestic workers. Get help at once.

⚠ Important warning

Before you leave your employer — read this first

Leaving your employer may be treated as “absconding.” In this country there's an absconding-report risk. It's safer to talk to a person before you leave.

Where complaints go

Start with the Migrant Workers Office (MWO). It is where OFW work cases go — wages, contracts, passports, and abuse — and it can tell you which Bahraini office applies to you.

On the Bahraini side, the Ministry of Labour can try to settle a dispute between you and your employer. The LMRA's Expat Protection Centre helps workers with problems and with bringing cases. You can also go straight to the labour courts.

Don't wait. A claim for compensation after your job is ended must be brought within 30 days of the job ending.

In the Philippines, you can also bring a money claim against your recruitment agency, which is responsible together with your employer. That claim must be brought within 3 years, and it usually starts with a conciliation step at the DMW.

Philippine offices in Bahrain

For a work problem, contact the Philippine Embassy in Manama and ask for the Migrant Workers Office (MWO). The embassy handles passports, documents, and concerns that are not about work.

Handa has not checked contact details for Bahrain yet, so we don't list them here. The Department of Migrant Workers lists its offices abroad at dmw.gov.ph.

What to keep

A copy of your contract, any proof of non-payment, messages with your employer, and a photo of your passport if you have one.

What this guide is based on

Handa's plain-language summary of the sources below. It has not been checked by a lawyer.

Last updated 14 September 2026.

Something here out of date or wrong? Tell us at contact@handahelp.org.