The implications of the Corona pandemic on the individual employment contract in the Qatari labour law – Comparative analytical study

Abstract

The Corona pandemic continues to cast its repercussions on labor relations in the private sector, whether in terms of employers resorting to termination of employment contracts, or the modification of the way of performing work, or modification of working time, or even lowering wages. The question that arose is about the extent of legality of such measures that an employer might take on their own will. Consecutively, jurisprudence key actors began to strive to describe the situation that was created by the Corona pandemic, to find out: was the Corona virus a legitimate reason for terminating employment contracts by business owners without considering this an arbitrary termination? Was it at least a reason to give employers the right to unilaterally amend employment contracts? Does the legislation governing labor relations include an integrated system that can accommodate the situation arising from the pandemic? Therefore, the question that arises is about what the epidemic has revealed in terms of legislative inadequacy to address the impact of health emergencies on work relations. These questions constitute the problematic basis of this research.