A NEW law that would improve the rights of workers in the private sector and increase their annual leave hangs in the balance, after the Shura Council blocked another of its articles.
The Private Sector Law has already been approved by Parliament, but the Shura Council yesterday vetoed another provision included in the bill by MPs.
Parliament had originally hoped the legislation would lead to a minimum wage for Bahrainis, but abandoned the idea after learning that any minimum wage would also have to apply to expats.
Instead, MPs included an article in the law that would have led to the formation of a wage council tasked with driving up salaries in the private sector.
However, the Shura Council blocked the move during its weekly session yesterday - saying any such salary body would be powerless.
The Shura Council has already blocked other articles of the bill included by MPs, including increased time off for mothers working in the private sector and forcing employers to pay all legal costs if their staff takes them to court for malice.
If Parliament and the Shura Council cannot agree on articles in the law then the bill could be scrapped altogether.
However, Labour Minister Dr Majeed Al Alawi yesterday threw his weight behind the Shura Council's decision to scrap the wage council if there was no minimum salary.
"This article is unnecessary since it would form a committee to improve wages and since similar committees in the world look to come up with a line for minimum wages as their main goal, we here don't have that approach - considering that we are obliged to have equal pay for Bahrainis and expatriates, something that we can't manage," he said.
Shura Council Financial and Economic Affairs Committee Chairman Khalid Al Maskati argued that studies to increase wages should be conducted by the Labour Ministry.
"We don't want a minimum wage, so why waste time and include a committee that is powerless?" he asked.
"Will its decision be binding on the private sector? I don't think so."
Meanwhile, the Shura Council members rejected a recommendation by its own committee to form a labour dispute tribunal after the government proposed the formation of a labour arbitration commission to look into contractual disputes with groups of workers.
Group contracts are those signed by the employer after negotiations with labour representatives.
The Shura Council will continue discussing the 198-article bill at next Monday's session.