WRC rejects Fozia Rafiq’s fixed-term work complaint against Kuwait

The Workplace Relations Commission found Fozia Rafiq’s complaint against the State of Kuwait not well founded in a decision dated 24 May 2023. Rafiq, an accountant employed on a fixed-term contract, argued she was treated less favourably than a comparable permanent employee when her employment ended. Kuwait argued that sovereign immunity prevented the WRC from hearing the case. The adjudicator rejected that argument and found the Commission had jurisdiction. The complaint failed because Rafiq could not identify a comparable permanent employee, which the law required for her claim. The adjudicator accepted that the employer had failed to apply fair procedures, but that did not meet the legal test for a breach of the fixed-term work law.