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Working in Qatar

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 Qatar's Labour Law for people who work for a company. If you work in a household, different rules apply — see Domestic workers.

Minimum wage
QAR 1,000 a month basic pay — plus QAR 500 for housing and QAR 300 for food if your employer does not provide them. This covers domestic workers too.
Working hours
Up to 8 hours a day, or 48 hours a week. In Ramadan, up to 36 hours a week. With overtime, no more than 10 hours in a day.
Overtime
At least 125% of your basic wage for each extra hour — 150% for work between 9pm and 6am (except for shift workers).
Weekly day off
At least 24 hours in a row off each week, with pay — usually Friday.
Paid leave
After your first year: 3 weeks a year. After 5 years: 4 weeks a year.
End-of-service pay
At least 3 weeks of basic wage for each year of work, once you have worked at least one year.
How you are paid
Into an account through the Wage Protection System. Since 8 September 2026, your pay must reach your account within 7 days of the day it is due.
Summer heat
No outdoor work from 10:00 to 15:30, from 1 June to 15 September. At any time of year, outdoor work must stop if the heat-stress level gets too high — and you can stop work and complain without being punished.

A 2026 law changed which rules cover part-time and freelance workers. If that is you, ask the Migrant Workers Office which rules apply.

Your passport is yours

Qatari law says an employer must give a worker's passport back, and keeping it can be fined up to QAR 25,000. The one exception: an employer may hold it if you ask in writing — and must give it back when you ask. Employers sometimes pressure workers to sign a request like this. You do not have to.

Even so, passport-keeping still happens often and is rarely punished. 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: different rules

If you work in a household, you are covered by Qatar's separate law for domestic workers, not the main Labour Law. The main points:

Working hours
Up to 10 hours of work a day, not counting breaks.
Weekly day off
One day off a week.
Paid leave
3 weeks of paid leave a year, and a ticket home every 2 years.
End-of-service pay
At least 3 weeks of basic wage for each year of work.
Minimum wage
The QAR 1,000 minimum wage applies to you too.

Changing jobs and leaving the country

Since 2020, you can change jobs without your employer's permission (no “NOC” needed) by applying through the Ministry of Labour's online system and giving notice: 1 month if you have worked 2 years or less, 2 months if longer. Many employers still ask for an NOC — the law says you do not need one.

Most workers, including domestic workers, no longer need an exit permit to leave Qatar. Domestic workers must tell their employer 72 hours before they leave.

Employers can still file an “absconding” report. The rules say that once you have filed a labour complaint or a job-change request, your employer cannot report you as absconding while it is being handled. In practice, false reports still happen and can be hard to undo — so file first and keep proof that you filed.

⚠ 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 Qatari office applies to you.

On the Qatari side, work complaints go to the Ministry of Labour. Disputes that are not settled go to a Labour Dispute Settlement Committee, which should decide within 3 weeks of its first session. If the committee rules in your favour and your employer does not pay, the Workers' Support and Insurance Fund can pay you instead.

Qatar's National Human Rights Committee also takes complaints.

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 Qatar

For a work problem, go to a Migrant Workers Office first. The embassy handles passports, documents, and concerns that are not about work.

Phone numbers, addresses, and the date we last checked each one are in the Handa app preview — open it and tap Offices.

Open the Handa app preview

What to keep

A copy of your contract, any proof of non-payment, messages with your employer, a photo of your passport if you have one — and proof of any complaint or job-change request you file.

What this guide is based on

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

Last updated 14 September 2026.

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