Labor Law:
The Labor Law is of great importance, especially at present time, in light of the economic transformations, the sweeping tide of globalization and the movement of capital, in addition to opening the way for investment in the Bahraini economy. If the State encourages private investment and is heading towards it, this means paying attention to capital, which is one of the components of the production process. It was necessary to pay attention to the second element in this process, which is the human element, as labors represent the key elements of production process, so that the interest in investing money does not overshadow the concern for protecting workers. Provisions of Labor Law are the key means of this protection.
The Labor Law is a relatively recent law branch, which regulates the relationship between the worker and the employer, and therefore has been associated with labor union movements, and emerged with the advent of the industrial revolution.
History of Labor Law in Bahrain:
The Kingdom of Bahrain has been keen to establish balanced relations between the two sides of production. About a century ago, an Amiri Decree was issued in 1923 to regulate the relationship between sailors and seafarers, whereby the debts of sailors were canceled and the seafarers (the stronger party) were obliged to keep books and records in order to regulate the payment of sailor salaries and to resolve their disputes before the courts, as stated in the notes of Counselor Sir Charles Belgrave, Adviser to the rulers of Bahrain from 1926 to 1957.
With the discovery of oil, the Kingdom sought to provide employment opportunities to raise the standard of living for Bahraini workers. In 1957, the first Labor Law in Bahrain and even in GCC region was promulgated, regulating the relationship between employers and their workers. Decree-Law No. 23 of 1976 was issued to regulate employment in the private sector. The Social Insurance Law was promulgated by Decree-Law No. 24 of 1976. The Labor Law was amended by Decree-Law No. 14 of 1993 and some of its provisions were amended in 2006.
In view of the current developments in international and domestic trade and in order to create job opportunities and encourage investment, the amendments to the old Labor Law have become incompatible with the requirements of the current stage. This necessitated the intervention of the legislature in 2012 in order to keep pace with the development and to issue a labor law under Law No. 36 of 2012, which abolished Decree-Law No. 23 of 1976.