Is employer liable for paying damages?

QUESTION: Last month, an accident occurred at our worksite due to the negligence of an employee of another sub-contractor. One of our employees got injured in the accident and he is undergoing treatment now. Also, our machinery got partially damaged. As the accident was due to the negligent act of another employee, is the sub-contractor company responsible to pay compensation? Please advise.
VU, Doha

ANSWER: An employer can be liable for the acts or omissions of its employees, provided it can be shown that they took place in the course of their employment. According to Article 209 of the civil laws, an employer shall be liable for the damages caused as a result of an unlawful act by the employee provided it was committed during the course of the employment. The employment relationship shall be established where the activities of the employee that are in furtherance of duties that are owed to the employer and where the employer is, or could be, exercising some control, directly or indirectly, over the activities of the employee.

Annual leave pay calculations
Q: I joined my existing company in 2008 and till now I am getting only 21 days’ leave salary. Am I eligible for 28 or 30 days’ leave salary after five years of service. Further, is it possible for me to switch the job at this moment without approval from the employer? Please clarify.
VP, Doha

A: As per Article 79 of the Labour Law, an employee who has completed one year continuous service shall be eligible for annual leave with pay minimum @ three weeks per year for up to five years in service and four weeks leave for the worker whose service is more than five years.
Under the new entry exit law of Qatar, an employee who has completed five years under an indefinite term contract can change jobs with permission from governmental authorities after giving appropriate notification to the employer based on the duration in service. Since the duration of your service is more than five years, the notification period shall be at least two months.

Terms for going into liquidation
Q: I am engaged in construction contracting since 2007 and I started a company last year. Recently, I had some issues with my local partner and now he is not responding to my calls. As he is the authorised signatory, I am unable to run the company smoothly. So, I decided to liquidate the company on this ground. Is it possible to do so? If not, what are the grounds in which the company can be liquidated? Please advise.
NI, Doha

A: The non-cooperation of the partner shall not be considered as a ground for dissolution. According to Companies law – Article 291, a company shall be dissolved only in any of the following cases: (1) Upon the expiry of the duration fixed in the Articles of Association, unless the company is renewed according to the rules included therein; (2) Expiry of the objects for which the company has been incorporated, or where realisation of such objects become impossible; (3) Transfer of all shares or capital to a number of partners or shareholders failing short of the legal minimum determined except the company is not transferred within six month to other type or increased numbers of partners or shareholders to the minimum limit; (4) The destruction of all or most of the company property, rendering the investment of the remainder infeasible; (5) Unanimous agreement by the shareholders on the company dissolution before the expiry of its duration unless the Articles of Association provides for dissolution by a specific majority; (6) Merger of a company into another; and (7) Issuance of a judicial judgement dissolving the company and declaring it bankrupt.

Lease agreements must be registered
Q: One of our tenants is not paying the monthly rent and the maintenance of the building is also not done in a proper way. We would like to file a case for terminating the contract. When we approached to file the case, court official asks us do some stamping in the lease contract. For the registration, they are asking for huge amount. How is it calculated? Is it mandatory to register the contract? Please advise.
FH, Doha

A: As per the Rent Law, all the lease agreements are required to be registered by the landlord at the Leases Registration Office at the Municipality in order to enable landlord to bring a claim in respect of the lease agreement before the Rental Dispute Settlement Committee or the Court. The lease must be registered by paying the necessary fee.  The landlord is bound to pay an annual fee of 1% of the annual rent for such registration. There will be a penalty imposed on landlords who fail to register lease agreements.

*Please send your questions by e-mail to: leges@qatar.net.qa

LEGAL SYSTEM IN QATAR
The liquidator shall not commence new business activities unless they are necessary to previous activities. If the liquidator commences new activities not required by the liquidation, he shall be responsible in all his assets for such activities and where in case of several liquidators they shall be jointly responsible.
According to Article 312, the due dates in respect of all the company debts shall expire upon the dissolution of company. The liquidator shall, by registered letter, notify all creditors on the commencement of liquidation, and shall invite them to submit their claims against the company. The notice shall be published in in two local newspapers, of which one shall be in Arabic language, and on the website of the company, if any, if the creditors or their places of residence are not known.

In all cases, the notice to creditors for the submission of their claims shall include a period of not less than seventy-five days from the date of such notice, provided that publication of notice shall be repeated during such period after the expiry of one month thereof. If some creditors fail to submit their claims, their debts shall be deposited with the court custodian, until the claims are received from their owners or the claims are time barred by extinctive limitation.

The liquidator shall settle the company debts after deducting liquidation expenses including the remuneration of the liquidator, according to the following order: (1) Amounts due to the employees; (2) Amounts due to the state; (3) Rent due to the landlord of any real estate leased by the company; and (4) Other due amounts subject to the order of their preference in accordance with the law in force.

As per Article 314, the liquidator shall upon settlement of the company debts set aside such amounts necessary to clear the disputed debts. The debts arising out of the liquidation shall have priority over other debts. The company shall be committed to the transactions of the liquidator required in the liquidation process, so far as they are within his powers. The liquidator shall not be responsible by reason of carrying out such transaction.

According to Article 316, the liquidator along with the auditor (if any) shall, within three months of commencement of work, prepare an inventory of all company assets and liabilities. The directors or board members shall present to the liquidator the company books and documents and requested clarifications. If liquidation continue for more than one year, the liquidator should prepare a balance sheet, profit and loss statement and a report on the activities of the liquidation. These documents shall be submitted to the partners, General Assembly, or the court, as the case may be, for approval in accordance with the Articles of Association of the company. In all cases, the liquidation duration should not exceed three years except by virtue of decree from court or the Ministry.

The liquidator shall, after settling the company debts, return to the partners the value of their monetary shares in the capital and distribute the excess among them in accordance to their profit sharing.

Where the net assets of the company is insufficient for settling all partner’s shares, the loss shall be distributed among them in accordance with the provisions relating the distribution of losses.