Supervisory Management (BS701)

Assessment 2 Group Project

Tutor: Meshaal Al Thawadi

1.0 Introduction
This assignment will advise your organization regarding Bahraini labor law and its implications,
benefits of teamwork in an organization of your nature and will examine procedures of
discipline, appraisal and training.

2.0 Bahraini Labor Law

2.1 Bahrainisation
It is the National Bahraini Policy which encourages employing more Bahraini citizens in the
private sector in order to provide the Bahraini citizen an opportunity to demonstrate his/her
potentials and to reduce the unemployment rate of 3.8% in 2013, which is one of the priority
concerns of the government. A gap was found between jobs offered by employers which do not
match what is sought by job seekers, and this was identified as an important problem with the
current system (Gulf Daily News, n.d.), Minister of Labor, Mr. Jameel Humaidan, pointed out.

In 1996, a decree was issued to regulate the Bahrainisation Percentage, in the private
companies, in particular. In conformity with article 1 of the law, the newly established
companies must ensure that Bahrainis must represent 20% of its entire workforce, with
an annual increase of 5% annually.
However, the percentage has been decreased to take the owners financial situation into
consideration. Under subject (2), Size and Nature of the company of the Labor Market
Regularity Authority law, the private sector companies must have a certain percentage of
Bahraini employees that varies from 10% - 20% subject to the size of the company in the New
Bahraini Labor Law . In addition, companies that are sized from 1-5 employees are exempted
from this rule due their inability to pay the minimum wage published by the government.
Jameel Humaidan, Labor Minister of Bahrain has previously stated: Sectors which percentages
are beyond their ability to meet for Bahrainisation will have their percentages re-evaluated
(Gulf Daily News, n.d.).

2.2 Contract
According to Article 20, a written contract must be made between the employer and the
employee as an official written contract will protect both employer and employee's rights. It
must include the name of employer, work address and commercial registration number (CRN).
Also, name of employee, date of birth, qualifications, occupation, address of residence and his
nationality must be included in the contract. Furthermore, job description, wage agreed, time
and method of receiving it.
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2.3 Leaves

2.3.1. Annual Leave

In conformity with Article 58 and 59 (A), Leaves

section. Every employee is entitled for an annual
leave for minimum of 30 days after completing one
year or 15 days after 6 months of service on full
pay.

2.3.2 Emergency
leaves

In conformity with Article 59 (B), the employee

shall apply for 6 days emergency leave annually,
not exceeding 2 days maximum each case
deductible from the annual leave.

2.3.3 Death leaves

In conformity with Article 63 (A) 2 and 3, The

Employee is entitled for three days death leave in
the case of death of one of his/her relatives up to
the fourth degree.

2.3.4 Sick leaves

In conformity with Article 65, The Employee is

entitled for 15 days on full pay, 20 days on half pay
and another 20 days without pay in case of sickness
duly certified by a Government Health Centre and/or
Hospital.

2.3.5 Leaves specified for women

2.3.5.1 Paid
maternity Leave

In conformity with Article 32 (A), Employment of

Women, woman shall take a maternity leave and
receive a full pay for 60 days on production of
necessary certificate. She may also take additional
15 days without pay.

2.3.5.2 Unpaid
maternity leave

A female employee has the right to take an unpaid

leave for a maximum of 6 month for the purposes
of raising her child who is not older than 6 years
for 3 times maximum through her service period.

2.3.5.3 Iddah leave

Muslim woman is entitled for a full month paid leave if

her husband died, additional 3 months and 10 days
more to complete her Iddah period from deducted from
her annual leave, but, in conformity with Article 63 (C),
she may apply for leave without pay should she availed
her annual leave.

2.3.4 Sick leaves

In conformity with Article 65, The Employee is

entitled for 15 days on full pay, 20 days on half pay
and another 20 days without pay in case of sickness
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duly certified
by a Government Health Centre and/or
Hospital.

2.4 Bahraini Women Rights in the Workplace

The Bahraini womans right in the workplace has been guaranteed by defined laws in the
Bahraini Labor Law to avoid any kind of discrimination against her.

2.4.2 Night Shifts for

Women

In conformity with Article 30, Employment of

Women, further provides that, the company must
specify the conditions which ensure that women
shall not be working in a night shift.

2.4.3 Termination of
Service due to
Marriage or
Pregnancy

In conformity with Article 33, Employment of

Women Terminating a woman from service on
account of marriage or pregnancy is illegal as this
action is considered as an objection to the will of
the Almighty Allah. This law was established to
prevent any discriminative actions towards
women, which are also emphasized in Article 29
as which provide that women should not be
treated in a discriminative manner when their
working conditions are identifiable.

2.5 Bahraini National Wage

The minimum basic Bahraini national wage on average in the public sector is 200 Bahraini Dinars
for the undergraduates and 300 Bahraini Dinars for the graduates, while it is 180 Bahraini Dinars
for the undergraduates and 300 Bahraini Dinars for the graduates in the private sector and there
are further plans and studies to jack up the basic Bahraini national wage to 500 Bahraini Dinars.

2.6 Working Hours and Shifts

Article 50 has stated that night shift workers shall be paid an allowance for the difficult nature of
their work. Also, according to Article 50, 51, 53 and 54, it is illegal to ask an employee more than
48 hours a week which means 8 hours a day unless there was a previous agreement to work for
not more than 10 hours a day, Furthermore, it is illegal to ask a Muslim employee to work than 6
hours a day in Ramadhan.

2.7 Employment of Foreigns

Employing a foreign must go through a process issued according to Article 24 from the LMRA, as
it is not the same process as employing a Bahraini. The employer must first submit an
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application to the Authority noting that the employer should be related personally to the work
permit issued. There are some conditions for employing a foreign worker such as paying the fees
to the Authority, submit all documents and information specified and the worker must be
medically fit and free of all kinds of contagious diseases and other conditions determined by
Board of Directors.

2.8 Employee File

As what article 68 states, an employer must create a file for each employee including his/her
name, CPR, address, nationality, wage (including the changes), experience, qualifications,
position, leaves taken, date of service termination and the reasons of it including evidence.

2.9 Amendments of Bahraini Labor Law

2.9.1 Annual Leave

Labour Law (No. 23 of 1976) which states that the

employees are entitled to 21 days of annual leave
for the first five years and 28 days after five years
of service was replaced by Labour Law (No.36 of
2012) to state that each employee is entitled to 30
days as an annual leave regardless of the years of
service.

2.9.2 Sick Leave

The entitlement in the Labour Law (No. 23 0f 1976)

was 45 days annually, 15 days with full payment,
another 15 with half payment and 15 days without
payment. Labour Law (No. 36 of 2012) have
changed it to be 55 days per year, 15 days with full
pay, 20 with half pay and 20 without payment.

2.9.3 Non
Discriminatory
Practices

There wasn't any law that protects the employee

from the several kinds of discrimination, but
Labour Law (No. 36 of 2012) have ensured the
employee's protection from the government from
any discriminatory practices in payment whether it
is based on sex, language, origin, beliefs, language,
etc..

2.9.4 Penalties

The non compliance of the previous Bahraini Law

provisions is a punishable offence with minimum
of 3 and maximum of 6 months of imprisonment,
and a fine of minimum 200 and maximum 500
Bahraini Dinars. The current Bahraini Law is being
stricter about the non compliance of provisions;
the punishment is up to 3 months and a fine of
minimum 500 and maximum 1000 Bahraini Dinars
noting that the punishment will be doubled in of
repeating the offence.

3.0 Teamwork and its benefits

Working as a team is a proven effective way of increasing productivity and cost effectiveness
due to the many benefits contributing towards it. One of the benefits is having number of
people working together and directing their efforts towards one common goal. When a group is
goal oriented it result in multiple efforts building the same thing which will increase efficiency
and effectiveness in task performance. In Bahrain there is a common saying which could explain
the importance of a goal oriented team, You cannot clap using one hand and that explains
that everything in this world requires a team effort and only a group can accomplish more than
what an individual alone can.
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Another benefit of team work is the feeling of confidence and security it gives it team members
which can result in higher motivation level. Members working in a team have a tendency of
sensing their self-worth, as they feel productive and feel like they are contributing and effective.
More to that, the sense of security a team gives its members through feeling support from other
members reduces the stress one might feel of standing alone. Furthermore, peers pressure is
a powerful force as members in call centers will respect each other goal and each other time
and therefore will not want to let down or disappoint anyone.
Having teams can result in outcomes with higher efficiency. Increasing speed in the process of
work and efficiency is an aim of every department specially a call centre department. Having a
team of people working on one big task is faster than having multiple numbers of people
working on minor different tasks due to the cooperation of efforts of individuals whom will be
together doing a lot of thing at once. Efficiency will be resulted due to the fact that when a lot
of efforts are aimed at a common goal maximum number of outputs will be produced in the
minimum time. Considering the nature of the department, having a team of people working on
answering complaints calls will increase the number of calls for complaints answered in a
minute unlike when having one person handling the calls. According to Masooma Almas, who
works in Arab Financial Services Company call centre in Bahrain, having a team highly impacts
the process of reaching the ideal department SLA percentage which is 80% as members will do
their best to answer as many calls as possible in minimum timing and attend calls on hold in less
than 30 seconds (Almas, 2014).
Another benefit added to organizations using teamwork is an increase in innovation and
creativity. Having a team consisting of number of people with different educational background,
language, ideas and skills will increase the likelihood of success. When looking at the fact that
the call centre will consist of Bahrainis, Americans and other people with different backgrounds
can positively impact the organization if exploited well. Having a diversity of people working
together will create diversity of ideas and better problem solving solutions that are
characterized by creativity because they members will have different thoughts and approaches
which will lead to an effective ideal one. The availability of diverse workforces in Bahrain is
definitely a bonus. The organization can benefit from the well-educated diverse workforce in not
only increasing creativity and innovation in ideas and solutions in call centers but also creating
unique and creative approaches to customers. The Customers base in Bahrain is also
characterized with diversity due to Bahrain being a county that welcomes people from all
nationalities, therefore having a diverse call centre operators helps setting the company apart
from competitors due to its employee capability to deal with a diverse target market.
However, a team can result in negative implications if not supervised or directed well. A
problem that may arise due to teamwork is difficulty in decision implementation. Decision
implementation will certainly consume more time when a team is involved as members will
have their own suggestions, opinions and thought which will complicate the decision
implementation. To avoid complexity and time consuming leaders or managers must include
team members in decision making process that have an impact on members work and this will
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also lead to decisions that members believe are effective and members constructive
ideas/criticism will positively impact decisions if taken into consideration.
Furthermore, having a diverse team in nature may result in clashes between members due to
their differences. Members might misunderstand each others because of their cultures or
having personal issues because of dissimilarity. Thus, managers must observe teams and try to
solve any arising issue as soon as it appears leaving members without hatred toward each
others.

4.1 Disciplinary issues

As a first line manager, following a comprehensive disciplinary process for issues like
absenteeism, low productivity and failure to follow job procedures is a must. A fair and
equitable disciplinary process is essential due to its direct effect on the work conduct of all
employees, the working environment promoted by the company and the control line managers
have over the behavior of staff. When looking at the increasing absenteeism of an employee,
low productivity and failure to follow job procedures and requirement, a similar process must be
followed for disciplining employees regarding these matters.
With compliance to article 75 in the Bahraini labor law and considering the nature of work in
the call centre, the following common disciplinary process is advised to be followed by the
manager:
1.
2.
3.
4.

Verbal warning.
Written warning.
Suspension.
Dismissal.

The first step is to give a verbal warning; the verbal warning must clearly identify its purpose,
the unaccepted behavior conducted by employee and the expected outcome or changes. The
disciplinary process stops here if after the verbal warning the employee violating behavior/act
changed with accordance to the guidance provided in the verbal warning. It is also important to
increase other employees awareness about the impact of the issue one employee was warned
about to make sure others do not do it too.
The second step is to issue a written warning and it is only followed when the verbal warning
failed to produce the desired outcome from the employee and the offences of the highlighted
misconduct has been repeated. The written warning must include the personal information of
the employee (Name, ID numberETC), the reason of the warning, the corrective act required
and a signature proving acknowledgment of receiving and understanding the warning and its
implication. Furthermore, the written warning shall be included in employee official file for
purposes like future reference, appraisal and prove of disciplinary action taken. According to
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article 77 in the Bahraini labor law, verbal and written warning should be expired and removed
from the employee official file after six months from the issue date. The following is a
recommended written warning template which has been done with consideration of the
company nature:

The third step to take in case the written warning did not result in a change in employee
behavior is suspension. According to article 75 in the Bahraini labor law an employee can be
suspended for a period not beyond one month in each working year and a period not exceeding
5 days for each suspension. However it must be taken into consideration by the line manager
that the suspension must be expired and off employee official file after one year of the date of
suspension and that is in compliance with article 77 in the Bahraini labor law.

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Finally, the last step to be taken by line managers in case a suspension did not result in the
anticipated and expected changes is dismissal. Article 107 in the Bahraini labor law states that
an employer has the right to dismiss and employee without compensation or notice if the
employee fails to perform his/her duties which are agreed upon in the contract of employment.
Furthermore, it is advised to take into consideration article 78 (6 and 7) in the Bahraini labor law
which clarifies that an employee cannot be held accountable for an offence after 30 days from
the date in which the employer came to know about it or after 15 days from the date the
offence was committed on. More to that, before following the disciplinary process it is
important for the first line manager to understand the reason why an employee committed a
wrong action and to consider any factors that were beyond the employee control and caused
the wrong action like inadequate equipment, lack of knowledge due to not being trained and
environmental noise.

4.2 Performance appraisal

This form is provided from one of the call center agent in Zain Telecommunication Company in
Bahrain:
Here is the performance appraisal:

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And this is how Zain Company evaluates their employees' productivity and the quality of their
performance:

4.3 New staff training

Every manager and supervisor should adopt special methods of training that meet the
organization objectives and needs. Currently, the American organization is locating a call center
in Bahrain which means managers should clearly choose the best method that suit Bahraini
culture and environment. Training is a vital process for managers to improve their employees
performance toward their responsibilities and achieve the appropriate skills, attitudes and
knowledge. To accomplish the best training procedure, managers should develop a very clear
staff training guideline or to improve a suitable training cycle to meet the needs of the
organization in Bahrain. And the aim behind the training procedure is to register the employee
in the suitable training program.
The training procedure includes four steps:

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1. Identifying training need:

Supervisors in call center should prepare a list of tasks in order to compare the candidate
performance to standards. This step will help the supervisors to eliminate any unexpected
performance that doesnt meet their expectation or standards in the new environment
(Bahrain).

2. Preparing training objectives:

Both supervisors and employees have different objectives, thus the supervisor should know
what the trainee can do (performance), identify in which conditions the employee is expected
to work (conditions) and finally how well the task must be done by the trainee (criteria).

3. Preparing the training process:

This step will answer several questions relating to who will do the training, when it will happen,
where it will be and what equipment is needed for this training.

4. Conducting and evaluating the training:

This step will estimate the effectiveness of training by different criteria such as identifying the
employee reaction (satisfaction) in Bahraini environment.

The best training method that suit the employees in call center are coaching and shadowing. In
fact, call center agents highly need these two types of training to improve their performance.
Coaching and shadowing will help the employees to gain knowledge and skills needed for their
job. Here are some reasons that clarify the selection of the two methods:

Coaching: coaching is a one-to-one process and a relationship that linked between

the coach and the trainee either by face to face meeting or via electronic device or
online. Also, coaching has some goals that is needed to achieve and it will help to
improve performance by doing tasks ("What is coaching?," 2014).

Coaching has many benefits for the coach (supervisor), trainee and the company itself.
For example, for our company coaching will enhance learning to protect our training
investment, increase call quality, gain customers and employees satisfaction and keep
the costs consistent to the budget.
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Coaching is one of the methods that lead to have positive working environment and address a
top-performing team. Also, coaching will transfer the call center into new operation strategy,
direction and passion to our call center employees ("Call center coaching,"n.d ). This graph
shows number of results for using coaching courses in our call center in Bahrain:

Managers should choose and register the appropriate training program that suits the candidate
and his position ("Call center coaching," 2014). The second graph shows coaching procedures
in call center:

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Shadowing: call shadowing in call center means that the trainee will be with the
call center agent while he is working and answering phone calls. This method is
very useful for the trainee because it allows him to develop his own knowledge,
skills and attitudes while being present with the agent. Shadowing procedure starts
when the trainee meets the agent and then the agent introduce for him the basics
and shadowing tips. The vital advantage for this method is that call shadowing also
allows one-on-one attention. That mean the trainee will be focused and full aware
of the types of problems that he may face in the future while dealing in customer
service. Call shadowing will be for one to three months according to the trainee
performance development and by the time he may tend to be promoted to higher
levels in call center because of his excellent knowledge and skills ("Call shadowing,"
2004).

Call shadowing is a great method for call center trainee because it will help him to benefit
through his personal abilities and practical issues ("Benefits ," 2010). This graph shows some
great benefits that the trainees gain from call shadowing and helped them to perform better:

This graph shows our company benefits from call shadowing (Vikas , 2011):

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And another example for how we are going to train our new employees in Bahrain ("Planning a

training," 2014):

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5.0 Conclusion
To conclude, all the discussed matters are highly recommended and done consideration to and
research on Bahraini law and the nature of call centre environments in Bahrain.

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