Law No. 28 of 1969 on Work in the Oil Sector

Law No. 28 of 1969
on Work in the Oil Sector

Article 1

In applying the provisions of this Law, the following terms shall have the meanings assigned to them:
(a) Oil Operations:
1 – Operations relating to the exploration for or discovery of oil or natural gas, whether beneath the surface of the land or the sea.
2 – Operations relating to the extraction of crude oil or natural gas, or the refining, processing, transportation or shipment of either of them.
(b) Oil Operations Employers: employers who carry on oil operations under a concession or licence from the Government, or who carry out such operations as contractors or subcontractors. The award to a contractor of any of the oil operations set out in paragraph (a) shall not prejudice the continued employment of a Kuwaiti worker or impair his rights.
(c) Oil Workers: workers employed by oil operations employers, subject to the following two exceptions:
1 – This Law shall apply to Kuwaiti workers engaged in construction work, the erection, maintenance and operation of installations and equipment, and all related service work.
2 – In national companies, this Law shall apply to the Kuwaiti workers therein only.

Article 2

The provisions of this Law shall apply to oil workers only.
They shall also be subject, in matters for which no provision is made in this Law and its implementing resolutions, to the provisions of Law No. 38 of 1964 on Labour in the Private Sector.

Article 3

The application of the provisions of this Law shall not prejudice any more favourable benefits accorded to oil workers under their current employment contracts or the rules and regulations in force with oil operations employers.
Any condition or agreement contrary to the provisions of this Law shall be void, even if concluded before this Law came into force, unless the condition or agreement is more favourable to the worker.
Changing the type of a worker’s work without his consent shall be deemed to prejudice the benefits accorded to him.

Article 4

Oil workers shall be employed under a written contract specifying, in particular, the date of contracting, the amount of the wage, the nature of the work and, if the contract is for a fixed term, its duration. The contract shall be drawn up in at least two copies, one of which shall be given to the worker. If no contract is drawn up, the worker may prove his rights by all means of proof.
The employer shall give the worker a receipt in Arabic for any papers or certificates the worker has deposited with him.

Article 5

Working hours shall average forty hours a week over the shift rotation cycle, and the worker shall be compensated for overtime hours in accordance with the provisions of this Law.
Juveniles, however, may not be employed for more than six hours a day.

Article 6

If the place of work is in an area remote from habitation, the worker shall be entitled to a wage equal to his normal wage for the time taken by the journey to and from the assembly point designated for him and the place of work.

Article 7

For each hour of overtime he performs, the worker shall be entitled to a wage equal to the normal hourly wage to which he is entitled, plus 25% thereof if the overtime is worked by day and 50% thereof if the overtime is worked by night. Overtime wages shall be paid on the usual wage payment dates.
The meaning of night shall be defined by a resolution of the Minister of Social Affairs and Labour.

Article 8

Oil workers shall be entitled to the weekly rest day with full pay. If the exigencies of overtime work require a worker to be employed on the weekly rest day, he shall be entitled to an additional wage for each hour worked equal to at least 50% of his normal wage, and the employer shall in that case compensate the worker for his rest day with another day.
The employer shall determine the workers’ weekly rest day according to the conditions of the work.

Article 9

The official holidays granted to the worker with full pay are:

Hijri New Year	one day
National Day	one day
Isra and Mi’raj	one day
Eid al-Fitr	3 days
Day of Arafat	one day
Eid al-Adha	3 days
The Prophet’s Birthday	one day
New Year’s Day (Gregorian)	one day

If the exigencies of overtime work require the worker to be employed on an official holiday, he shall be entitled, in addition to his normal wage, to an additional wage for each hour worked equal to twice his wage for that hour.

Article 10

Working hours, including overtime hours, may in no case exceed 48 hours in one week, except to the extent necessary to prevent a dangerous accident or repair the damage resulting from it, to avert a certain loss, or to deal with additional work of an exceptional nature, provided that overtime in these cases does not exceed two hours a day.

Article 11

During the year, oil workers shall be entitled to the following sick leave:

Six months	with full pay
Two months	with three quarters of the wage
One and a half months	with half the wage
One month	with a quarter of the wage
One month	without pay

If the illness results from the occupation or from an employment injury, or is aggravated by it, the worker shall be entitled to his full wage for the above periods of sick leave, unless his leave ends upon his full recovery, the establishment of his disability or his death.
If these periods expire without the worker being able to return to his work, the employer may keep him on without pay or dispense with his services, granting him the gratuity to which he is entitled under the provisions of this Law, with the sick leave counted as part of his period of service.
Illness shall be established by a report from the Government Medical Board if it lasts more than fifteen days, and by a certificate from the physician appointed by the employer or the physician in charge at one of the government health units if it does not exceed that period. In the event of disagreement over the length of treatment, the certificate of the government health unit physician shall prevail over the certificate of the physician appointed by the employer.

Article 12

Oil workers employed on a monthly wage shall be entitled to annual leave of thirty days with full pay, increased to forty days after five years of continuous service. Other oil workers shall be entitled to annual leave of twenty-one days with full pay, increased to thirty days after five years of continuous service.
Annual leave shall be calculated so that the leave and the period of work together make up one full year. The worker shall not be entitled to leave before completing one year of service.

Article 13

The employer may accumulate the worker’s accrued leave over a period not exceeding two years if the worker expresses his wish to that effect in writing.
If the worker leaves the work or his employment is terminated, he shall be entitled to a cash payment in lieu of the annual leave he has not taken.

Article 14

Special leave with full pay may be granted to oil workers nominated for vocational training or workers’ education courses, or to represent the country at Arab or international conferences.

Article 15

Each oil operations employer employing at least two hundred (200) workers shall entrust one or more physicians with attending to his workers and their families and treating them at the place the employer prepares for this purpose. He shall also provide them with all other means of treatment in cases whose treatment requires the services of specialist physicians, or surgical or other operations, together with the necessary medicines. These services shall be provided to the workers and their families free of charge.

Article 16

All oil operations employers employing at least two hundred (200) workers shall provide suitable housing for the workers and their families, and shall compensate those for whom such housing is not provided by granting them an adequate housing allowance.

Article 17

If the employment contract is for an indefinite term, either party may terminate it after giving the other party written notice, as follows:
a – At least thirty days before termination of the contract, for workers on a monthly wage.
b – At least fifteen days before termination of the contract, for other workers.
The party terminating the contract may pay the other party, in lieu of notice, an amount equal to the worker’s wage for the notice period or the remainder thereof. The employer may not terminate the contract while the worker is on his annual leave; otherwise the leave shall be deemed interrupted as soon as notice of termination is given.

Article 18

Without prejudice to acquired rights, upon expiry of the contract, or upon termination by the employer of a contract for an indefinite term, the worker shall be entitled to a gratuity for his period of service calculated on the basis of (30) thirty days’ wages for each year of service for the first five years and (45) days’ wages for each subsequent year. The worker shall be entitled to a gratuity for fractions of a year in proportion to the time he spent at work, and the last wage shall be the basis for calculating the gratuity.
After notice from the employer under the preceding Article, the worker may resign from his work, in which case he shall be entitled to half the gratuity referred to in the preceding paragraph if his service exceeds two years but is less than five years, and three quarters of it if his service exceeds five years but is less than ten years; and the worker shall be entitled to the gratuity if he resigns after ten years of continuous service. The provisions of this Article shall apply to Kuwaiti workers from the date they joined the work, and to other workers from the date of issue of this Law, all without prejudice to the provisions of Article (57) of Law No. 38 of 1964.

Article 19

A worker who is subject to a retirement, savings or provident scheme or any other arrangement of this kind shall be entitled, upon the end of his service, to all the entitlements due to him under the terms of that scheme or arrangement as approved by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labour, in addition to the end-of-service gratuity provided for in the preceding Article, unless those terms provide otherwise.
Any condition depriving the worker of the right to recover the sums he has paid into those funds together with their interest, in addition to an amount not less than the end-of-service gratuity to which he is entitled under this Law, shall be void.

Article 20

Oil operations employers employing at least two hundred workers shall prepare training programmes, in agreement with the competent government authorities, enabling the largest possible number of citizens to acquire skills and experience in the various aspects of oil operations, so as to qualify them to hold technical and leadership positions with oil operations employers.
Employers shall submit to the competent government authorities annual periodic reports on progress in implementing those programmes.

Article 21

Without prejudice to any more severe penalty provided for by another law:
First: Any person who violates the provisions of Articles (4), (5), (6), (7), (8), (9), (10), (11), (12), (13), (17) and (18) of this Law shall be punished by a fine of three dinars. If the violation is not rectified within one month from the date of the judgment imposing the penalty, the offender shall be punished by a further fine of five dinars.
Second: Any person who violates the provisions of Articles (15), (16), (19) and (20) of this Law shall be punished by a fine of twenty dinars. If the violation is not rectified within one month from the date of the judgment imposing the penalty, the offender shall be punished by a further fine of fifty dinars.

Article 22

In applying the provisions of the preceding Article, the competent government authority shall send the offender a notice requiring him to rectify the violation within a period it shall specify. If the violation is not rectified within the specified period, the papers shall be referred to the competent authority to institute criminal action.
Officials delegated by the Minister of Social Affairs and Labour to investigate these violations shall have the capacity of judicial police officers.

Article 23

Article (1) of Law No. 43 of 1968 Amending and Correcting Law No. 38 of 1964 on Labour in the Private Sector, which added to that Law a Part entitled Part Sixteen, is hereby repealed.

Article 24

The Ministers, each within his competence, shall implement this Law. The Minister of Social Affairs and Labour shall issue the resolutions necessary for its implementation, and it shall come into force as of 14 July 1968.

Issued on 11 June 1969 and published in the Official Gazette Kuwait Al-Youm.