As soon as you expand to Kuwait, you’ll probably be thinking about recruiting and hiring employees. It’s essential to find talented employees who will help your new company location grow, but it’s also important to stay compliant. If you don’t meet Kuwait’s employment compliance laws, you could face fines or other delays to starting operations.
Instead, G-P can offer you a better hiring process through Kuwait hiring outsourcing. We’ll use our existing subsidiary to recruit and hire employees we can assign to work for you, giving them a great hiring experience and the opportunity to be productive from the start. Our team can also take responsibility for all Kuwait employment compliance laws, so you can focus on building your company.
Recruiting in Kuwait
In addition to learning about the culture in Kuwait, you should take some time to consider the logistics of the recruitment process. Do you have a plan for sourcing talent in-country? Are you familiar with the laws your company will need to follow when you’re staffing and recruiting? If not, you might run into problems in Kuwait.
The recruitment process can vary depending on whether you choose to handle it in-house or outsource it. Recruiting in a country where your company doesn’t have an established presence may take longer than you’re used to. Instead of relying on personal recommendations, you’ll need to use job boards and advertise in local papers.
Hiring a local recruiting firm can speed up the process, but you’ll need to look out for unexpected fees. A better option for outsourcing may be partnering with a global PEO that includes recruiting and hiring services as part of their platform.
Laws Against Discrimination in Kuwait
When you’re staffing and recruiting in Kuwait, it’s also important to make sure your company complies with the country’s legal requirements. Kuwait’s constitution states that every citizen has the right and duty to work. The law also states that there should be no differentiation between people based on the following grounds:
- Gender
- Religion
- Language
- Origin
Some of these characteristics may be apparent as you get to know your prospective employees, but it’s critical to make sure they don’t factor into your company’s hiring decisions.
How to Hire Employees in Kuwait
It can help to know certain cultural factors that impact how to hire Kuwait employees. For example, people in Kuwait value relationships, but nepotism in business is common. Whenever citizens greet each other, they spend time catching up on friends, family members, and subjects of mutual interest. Kuwaitis are also known as tough negotiators and appreciate dealing with problems outside of a meeting instead of a group setting. People rarely say no, so it’s important to listen for words such as “perhaps” or “possibly.”
Other facts to note follow:
- There’s a long history of traditional Islamic values, and foreigners should respect these faith values.
- There are prison sentences for consuming, importing, brewing, and trafficking in liquor.
- Aggressive driving and using a mobile phone while driving are against the law.
- Hiring non-Kuwait nationals requires a local sponsor who will act as the Employer of Record.
Kuwait Employment Laws
Since a large portion of the population in Kuwait is made up of expatriates, you’ll have to follow a whole different set of Kuwait employment compliance laws. You’ll need to get a residency permit for one, two, or three years. The steps include determining eligibility to work through the Immigration Department, completing a work permit application and submitting it to the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor, obtaining a pre-entry medical visa endorsement, and more.
You also need to use an employment contract to hire employees in Kuwait — either fixed or indefinite. Contracts should be in writing, follow the set format, and include details like salary, job duties, and term of employment. You should make three copies of every employment contract, one for each party and the third lodged with the competent ministry. All compensation and salary amounts in a contract or offer letter need to be in Kuwaiti dinar instead of another currency.
Onboarding in Kuwait
After hiring your Kuwait employees, you can choose how you want to onboard them. Generally, we recommend reviewing all employment contracts and other important documents during an employee’s first day. Then, you can provide necessary on-the-job training for their specific position. If you’re available to travel to Kuwait to meet with new employees, you should try to host a meeting with multiple new hires at once to welcome them to your company.
Benefits of Hiring Outsourcing in Kuwait
Kuwait hiring outsourcing services with G-P will help you start working faster. We can use our Kuwait PEO to hire employees and assign them to work for you in as little as a day or two. We’ll also shoulder all Kuwait employment compliance, so we’ll be the ones responsible instead of you.
Work With G-P To Expand Globally
G-P will make your expansion faster and easier. Contact us today to learn more about Kuwait hiring outsourcing.