The Ultimate Guide to Hiring Employees in Qatar

In Qatar, employees receive paid annual leave based on their tenure:

• Less than one year: Leave is at the employer's discretion.
• Three weeks of annual leave for one to five years of service.
• Four weeks of annual leave for over five years of service.
• Employees can split leave into two periods and carry over unused leave to the next year with employer approval.

Female employees in Qatar are entitled to a minimum of 50 days of fully paid maternity leave, which includes both prenatal and postnatal periods. The postnatal period should not be less than 35 days.

Male employees in Qatar are not mandated to have paternity leave under the Labour Law. However, some employers may offer it based on company policies. It's common for employers to grant three to five days of leave to fathers after their child's birth.

After three months of service, an employee in Qatar is entitled to paid sick leave as follows:

• Fully paid sick leave for the first 2 weeks.
• 50% of salary for the next 4 weeks.
• Any extension beyond the regular 6 weeks will be unpaid.

Employees are entitled to three days of leave in the event of the death of a direct family member. Should the death of the family member occur outside Qatar, employees are then entitled to 7 days.

In Qatar, Muslim employees may be entitled to a one-time unpaid pilgrimage leave of 20 days if they wish to make a pilgrimage to Mecca.