[JURIST] Qatar initiated a public awareness campaign Monday to educate workers about the new labor laws [text] that will take effect in December. Many migrant workers are employed in Qatar, and the new laws are intended to make it easier for workers to change and leave jobs. The kafala employee sponsorship system is being replaced [AP report] with legislation that promotes a new contract system. However, critics have stated [JURIST report] that Qatar has not done enough to improve the lives of its migrant workers.

Domestic workers especially those working abroad, tend to have far fewer protections than other classes of workers. In August 2014 the president of Brazil signed into law a measure [JURIST report] providing basic protections to Brazilian domestic workers. In April 2014 Amnesty International reported on the human rights abuses faced by migrant domestic workers [JURIST report] in Qatar. In November Human Rights Watch issued a letter to the Labor Minister of Morocco, Abdeslam Seddiki, imploring the Moroccan government to revise a draft law before the Moroccan parliament regarding legal protections for domestic workers to comply with international standards. In 2011 the International Labor Organization [official website] passed the Domestic Workers Convention (No. 189) [text], a measure extending basic labor rights to workers in signatory countries, including days off each week, set hours and a minimum wage.