A live music ban imposed on four-star hotels last year has left dozens of Bahrainis jobless, a leading unionist has alerted.

At least 30 citizens had lost their jobs as a result of the ban, Bahrain Free Labour Union Federation (BFLUF) vice-president Basim Kuwaitan told the Gulf Daily News (GDN), our sister publication.

Elsewhere, the union has also being inundated with complaints about employers violating a law allowing disabled people time off work, he said.

BFLUF registered close to 100 complaints last year related to workers unfairly dismissed from their jobs, confiscation of expatriates' passports and other violations.

In the first six months of the year alone, 37 complaints were received relating to the non-payment of wages, Mr Kuwaitan said.

Meanwhile, 30 complaints had been received from Bahrainis working in the hospitality sector, who were affected by a ban on live music on 28 four-star hotels that was imposed in November.

"These Bahrainis were rendered jobless because the decision affected the hotels and they contacted us for help," said Kuwaitan. "At the moment, we are following up these cases with authorities concerned."

Complaints had also been received from nine staff working at the car park near Bab Al Bahrain, who claimed that their rights had been infringed.

"One of the biggest problems we face is that companies are not following the law that allows people with special needs to get two hours off work daily," said Kuwaitan.

"This law was ratified by His Majesty King Hamad, but we still receive hundreds of complaints that companies are not adhering to this rule. We don't understand why this has not been implemented on the ground."

Under the law, ratified by the King in September, disabled Bahrainis should be given two hours off every day on presentation of a certified medical statement. Caregivers can also get off work early.

Kuwaitan said they had further registered 19 complaints from expatriates related to passport confiscation by their employers.

The unionist said the complaints received included several from female staff, who had urged them to intervene and speak to their employers in order to hand over their passports.

"Companies should not hold passports of their staff as this is illegal," he said. "These workers told us they could not travel back to their home countries or even switch jobs with another employer because their passports were not in their possession."

The BFLUF official said his union wanted to help expatriate workers deal with labour complaints and urged anyone who was having issues to get in touch.

"We strongly advise non-Bahrainis to contact us for job related problems as we can follow up their cases with officials," he added.

BFLUF was launched in 2012 to compete with the existing General Federation of Bahrain Trade Unions (GFBTU), which was previously the only organisation grouping together unions of different sectors in Bahrain.

Currently, BFLUF has more than 18 trade unions under its umbrella and an estimated 20,000 members, including expatriates.

It also formed a National Union of Bahraini Pensioners in April last year to fight for the rights of Bahrain's 40,000 pensioners. – TradeArabia News Service