Foreign workers wrongly listed as runaways by their unscrupulous bosses can now lodge their own complaint with authorities.

Expat staff are being urged to check their status on the Labour Market Regulatory Authority (LMRA) website to make sure there are no false complaints against them.

Companies had reported a total of 3,597 runaway cases by the end of last month - just one month after the LMRA took over responsibility for issuing visas.

However, only 2,343 of those were approved by the LMRA, LMRA e-services and public relations manager Waheed Al Balushi told the Gulf Daily News.

’We do not approve all the complaints registered by the employers until we verify it ourselves,’ he explained.

’We wait for one month and during this period we contact the employees if their details are available with us.

’Those who can be contacted are given a chance to report to the LMRA and prove the employers’ complaints wrong.’

In some cases, employees listed as runaways had filed their own complaints at the Labour Ministry alleging non-payment of salaries and other work disputes.

’Those workers who suspect that their employers have branded them as runaways can check their status by feeding their CPR number and their passport expiry date into the e-services section of our website at www.lmra.bh,’ added Al Balushi.

’Every expatriate must now remember that they have their own portals with LMRA now.

’When they check the site, they can update their data. They should furnish their mobile number so that we can contact them on receiving such complaints.’

Employers who have already reported runaway cases to the Labour Ministry should also take a copy of the report to the LMRA, to ensure that its database is accurate, added Al Balushi.

’In fact, we do not want to officially call them runaway workers. We want to say that they are absent from work,’ he added.

’Once the complaint is approved, we shall exclude such workers’ names from the monthly invoices sent to the companies.

’However, notifying the LMRA will not relieve employers from their obligations to meet the cost of workers’ repatriation to the destinations specified in the employment contract, or to their native home.’

Al Balushi said the employers whose runaway cases are approved would get a replacement permit once it is proved that such workers have already left the country.

’If the workers are still in the country for some reasons, the employers have to wait for six months to get a replacement permit,’ he added. - TradeArabia News Service