Official status and scope
Al Meezan identifies Law No. 9 of 2026 as a five-article law amending Law No. 14 of 2004. It records enactment on 11 June and publication in Official Gazette issue 11 on 25 June 2026, and marks the law as in force.
The amendment changes multiple provisions rather than replacing the entire Labour Law. Readers must use the amended text together with unaffected provisions and any implementing decisions. An employer’s internal summary or old contract template is not a complete legal source.
Revised labour-dispute timetable
The amended Article 115 bis requires the worker and employer to present a Labour Law or contract dispute to the competent Ministry department for friendly settlement. The department has up to seven days to take settlement steps and then seven days to present the result to the parties.
If settlement fails, is rejected or receives no response, the department must refer the dispute within the next three working days. The committee secretariat then has three working days to set a hearing no later than seven working days after referral, with notice at least three days before the hearing. Filing the settlement request pauses the legal limitation period during the stated timetable.
Non-compete, part-time and freelance provisions
The amended non-compete wording permits a clause where the work exposes the employee to clients or business secrets, but caps it at two years. The clause is enforceable only after approval by the competent department, and it is treated as void if the contract ends during probation.
The amended exclusions list includes part-time and freelance workers, while allowing the Council of Ministers to apply some or all Labour Law provisions or issue a special system for those categories. A person should therefore verify the actual contract and any later ministerial or cabinet framework instead of assuming ordinary employee protections automatically apply in the same way.
Training, committees and other changes
A new Article 23 bis allows specified technical or vocational occupations to require training and testing certificates from Ministry-approved centers. The Ministry is to publish the occupation list and licensing controls. Workers should verify whether their occupation appears on the current official list before paying for training.
Establishments with 100 or more workers must form a joint committee with equal employer and worker representation: four members where the workforce is 200 or fewer, six where it is above 200 and below 500, and eight where it is 500 or more. The amendment also revises recruitment licensing, strike conditions and financial or criminal penalties for specified breaches.
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Save the contract and evidence
Keep the signed contract, payslips, notices and messages outside an employer-controlled account.
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Use the official text
Check Al Meezan and the Gazette for the amended provision and any implementing decision.
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Act on deadlines
Submit a dispute through the competent official route and preserve the filing reference.
Why case-specific advice may be necessary
The legal effect depends on the worker category, contract, dates and later implementing decisions. This article highlights selected changes and does not determine the validity of a clause, the value of a claim or whether a deadline has expired.
A worker facing dismissal, unpaid wages, retaliation, a restrictive covenant or an urgent filing deadline should contact the Qatar Ministry of Labour and consider qualified legal advice. Use the Arabic official text for decisive wording; the Ministry of Justice states that Arabic prevails where an English translation differs.