The Court of Appeal has issued a new ruling today, Tuesday, which pours cold water over the decisions issued by the Public Authority for Manpower on the issue of non-graduate expatriates who are 60 years and above which mandates payment of 500 dinars for private health insurance and 250 dinars residence renewal fee.
The issue had been riding a roller coaster for about two years until PAM arrived at a decision about 45 days ago to allow this category of expatriates to renew their work permits only for the Appeals Court to uphold the decision of a lower court which had ruled the PAM Administrative Decision No. 27 of 2021 null and void, reports a local Arabic daily.
On the surface of it, it appears the issue has come back to square one
The Appeals court verdict also issued a ruling to end discrimination between business owners in issuing work permits, in addition to canceling 56 other articles covered by the law.
The ruling of the Court of Appeal is the fourth of its kind in favor of the members of the Kuwait Entrepreneurs Association, who had earlier obtained 3 “first degree” judicial rulings to cancel the administrative decision issued by the “Manpower”.
In the text of the judgment the Court of Appeal decided to accept the appeal in form, reject it in substance, and uphold the appealed judgment.
The ruling was greeted by entrepreneurs, who emphasized that the existence of restrictive conditions for the work of citizens in their country is incompatible with the state’s vision to support and empower young people and create job opportunities in the private sector.
Therefore, the decisions of the Council of Ministers were in line with the laws, especially the constitution, so it ordered registration only with the authority with the intention of limiting the numbers benefiting from employment support, not seeking permission from the authority, as stated in the canceled decision.
Meanwhile, in statements to the daily, the entrepreneurs indicated that the canceled decision was flawed because it imposed the condition of comprehensive health insurance for non-graduate expatriates 60 years old and above which confused the labor market and deprived some business sectors of craftsmen and professionals, pointing out that determining the age of the worker and the extent of his ability to work does not fall within the jurisdiction of the Manpower Authority, and this is what has been confirmed by the judiciary in its rulings.
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