Qatar: Termination of employment

Original and updating author: Frank Lucente, Al Tamimi & Company

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Summary

• There are various ways of terminating an open-ended contract of employment. (See General)
• In Qatar generally, where the employer or employee terminates an open-ended employment contract with notice, minimum statutory notice periods apply, while in the Qatar Financial Centre the employer and employee are free to agree a notice period of any length in the employment contract or to completely dispense with notice, if so agreed. (See Notice periods)
• In Qatar generally, an employer may terminate an open-ended employment contract with notice at any time, without giving reasons; similarly in the Qatar Financial Centre an employer can generally dismiss an employee by giving proper notice for any or no reason. (See Dismissal with notice)
• Employers may dismiss an employee summarily without notice in certain specified circumstances. (See Summary dismissal)
• In Qatar generally and the Qatar Financial Centre, employees are in certain cases protected from dismissal. (See Dismissal protection)
• In the Qatar Financial Centre, an employee is free to terminate their employment with notice at any time; similarly, in Qatar generally, an employee may terminate an open-ended employment contract with notice at any time. (See Resignation)
• Employment legislation does not deal specifically with redundancy. (See Redundancy)
• In Qatar generally, eligible employees have a statutory entitlement to an "end-of-service gratuity" payment on termination of employment, under certain conditions. (See Severance payments)
• There is no statutory retirement age (except for Qatari nationals employed in the public sector in Qatar generally). (See Retirement age)
• In Qatar generally, the employer must, at the employee's request, provide them at the end of employment with a "service certificate" free of charge. (See Service certificate)
• In Qatar generally, employees who believe that their dismissal was unfair or in breach of statutory provisions have two potential avenues of redress available; in the Qatar Financial Centre there is no specific right to claim unfair dismissal under employment legislation. (See Contesting dismissals)