Bahrain Labour Law (Law No. 36 of 2012): A Guide for Private-Sector Workers

Bahrain labour law, for anyone working in the private sector, is Law No. 36 of 2012, the Labour Law for the Private Sector. It was issued on 26 July 2012, published in the Official Gazette on 2 August 2012, and took effect a month later, replacing the 1976 law. Its 177 articles set your contract, probation, wages, hours, overtime, leave, notice, dismissal, the end-of-service indemnity and the route to the labour court. When people search for "LMRA rules for employees", this is the law they mean: the Labour Market Regulatory Authority publishes its English translation and runs work permits, but the rules themselves are in the statute.

This guide goes through the law part by part. Every rule carries its article number, the text is the law as amended up to 2021, and where a rule involves money it links the Mukafi calculator that prices it. The calculator below works out the leaving indemnity under Articles 47 and 116, the figure most people come to the law for.

Where to read the Bahrain labour law (official text and PDF)

The official text is the Arabic one. The Legislation and Legal Opinion Commission (LLOC), the government's legislation portal, publishes Law No. 36 of 2012 as a web page and as a PDF of the Official Gazette text. Both show the law as issued in 2012. LLOC's record for the law lists four amendments since, and it offers a consolidated Arabic text with the amendments built in as a Word download. The easiest copy of the law as it stands is the LMRA's Arabic PDF of the law and its amendments to 2021, linked from its Arabic labour law page, which footnotes each amendment where it falls.

In English, the LMRA's labour law page links its translation of the law (PDF). Its first page says the translation is unofficial and that the Arabic prevails. It includes the 2015 change as a footnote but none of the later ones, so it still prints the pre-2018 Articles 2(b), 40(b) and 46 and the two articles repealed in 2021. LLOC's own English version has the same gaps.

The amending texts are on LLOC too: Law 37/2015, Decree-Law 59/2018 and Decree-Law 16/2021. We link the official copies rather than hosting a PDF, because a hosted copy goes stale the day the law changes.

What "LMRA rules" means: the LMRA, the Ministry and the SIO

Three bodies apply the law, and most confusion comes from mixing them up.

• The Labour Market Regulatory Authority (LMRA) was set up by Law No. 19 of 2006 on regulating the labour market. It issues and manages expatriate work permits, publishes the English translation of the Labour Law, and runs the Expat Protection Centre and the grievances line 995. Its December 2024 booklet on wages and indemnity also lists the Wage Protection System among its roles.
• The Ministry of Labour administers Law 36/2012 itself. Its Individual Labour Disputes Settlement Authority tries to settle a dispute before it reaches court (Article 119), and its inspectors enforce the law at work.
• The Social Insurance Organisation (SIO) has paid the leaving indemnity of expatriate workers for service since 1 March 2024, funded by employer contributions.

So an "LMRA rule" on leave, notice or indemnity is an article of Law 36/2012. LMRA's own rules are about permits, registration and moving between employers.

Who the law covers (Article 2)

Article 2(a) excludes government employees and public bodies whose staff are under the civil service, the military or another special system. Everyone else who works for a private employer for a wage is covered, Bahraini or expatriate.

Two groups get only part of the law under Article 2(b), as amended in 2018:

• Domestic workers, including gardeners, house guards, nannies, drivers and cooks working for the employer or the employer's family.
• Members of the employer's family whom the employer actually supports: spouse, ascendants and descendants.

For them only Articles 2 bis, 6, 19 to 21, 37, 38, 40, 46, 48, 49, 58, 116, 183 and 185 apply, plus Parts Twelve (end of the contract) and Thirteen (disputes). A domestic worker therefore has a written contract, probation rules, annual leave, the leaving indemnity, the notice and termination rules, and a free route to court, but not the chapters on hours, overtime, sick leave or maternity leave.

The law also protects groups by name. Women are covered by every rule that applies to men where the work is the same (Article 29), and since 2018 discrimination between workers on sex, origin, language, religion or belief is banned outright (Article 2 bis). Nobody under 15 may be employed. Workers aged 15 to 18 may work at most six hours a day, never at night, on a rest day or on a public holiday (Articles 23 to 26).

Employment contracts in Bahrain (Articles 19 to 22 and 96 to 98)

An employment contract in Bahrain must be in writing, in Arabic, in two copies, one for each side. A contract written in another language must carry an Arabic version, and any internal regulations it refers to must be attached and signed. Without a written contract, the worker alone may prove their rights by any means of evidence (Article 19). Since 2018 an employer that breaks Articles 19 or 20 faces a fine of BD 200 to 500 (Article 185).

Article 20 lists what the contract must contain: the employer's name, address and commercial registration; your name, date of birth, qualifications, job, address, nationality and identity details; the nature of the work and the term, if it is fixed; and the agreed wage, how and when it is paid, and every cash and in-kind benefit. The employer may not make you do work outside the contract except in an emergency or force majeure, and then only temporarily (Article 22).

A fixed-term contract ends when its term runs out and can be renewed by express agreement (Article 96). It becomes indefinite in any of the seven cases in Article 98, among them a contract with no end date, one longer than five years, original and renewed terms adding up to more than five years, or both sides carrying on after the term without an express renewal. And a new contract with the same employer that starts less than 30 days after the old one ended counts as the same contract, so your service continues for the indemnity (Article 118).

Probation period under Bahrain labour law (Article 21)

Probation counts only if the contract states it expressly. It may last up to three months, or up to six months for occupations the Minister names by resolution, and a worker may be put on probation only once by the same employer. During probation either side may end the contract if it does not suit them, with at least one day's notice (Article 21).

Ending the contract in probation does not wipe out what you have earned. Your leaving indemnity accrues from your first day (Article 116), and so does your annual leave (Article 58), so a probation exit still owes both in proportion to your service. Separately, Article 111(a) says an employer that ends an indefinite contract in its first three months owes no compensation, unless the dismissal is unfair under Article 104 or 105, in which case it owes one month's wage.

Working hours, rest days and overtime (Articles 51 to 57 and 64)

• Hours: at most 48 hours a week (Article 51) and 8 hours a day unless agreed otherwise, with an absolute cap of 10 actual hours a day. From the start of the working day to its end may not exceed 11 hours (Article 53).
• Ramadan: Muslim workers may work at most 6 hours a day or 36 a week (Article 51(b)).
• Breaks: one or more breaks totalling at least 30 minutes, so that nobody works more than 6 hours in a row; breaks are not working time (Article 52).
• Overtime: each extra hour is paid at the wage plus at least 25% by day and 50% at night (Article 54), and "night" runs from 7 pm to 7 am (Article 1).
• Rest day: at least 24 hours a week, normally Friday. Work on it earns the day's wage plus 150% of it, or another day off, as the worker chooses, and nobody may be made to work more than two rest days in a row without written consent (Article 57).
• Public holidays: Eid and the official holidays set by the Cabinet are paid days off. If you are called in, Article 64 gives you a premium or a substitute day, again as you choose.

The Bahrain overtime calculator prices every one of these, and our guide on working hours under Bahrain labour law and how to calculate overtime works through the rates with examples.

Leave (Articles 32 to 35 and 58 to 67)

Unused annual leave is paid in cash when the job ends, on the basic wage plus the social allowance (Articles 47 and 59(c)). Our article on maternity, sick and other leave in Bahrain covers every leave except annual leave, with the sick-leave bands priced on a real wage. For annual leave, count your leave days or work out what unused leave pays.

Wages, deductions and the minimum wage (Articles 37 to 48)

• Set by the contract (Article 37). Your wage is what the individual or collective contract or the workplace regulations say. Where none of them fixes it, you are owed the rate for similar work, then the custom of the trade, and failing both a court sets it.
• Equal pay (Article 39). No pay discrimination on sex, origin, language, religion or belief, and since 2021 no difference between men and women for work of equal value.
• When it is paid (Article 40). In Bahraini dinars unless agreed otherwise, at least once a month for monthly-paid staff. When the job ends, everything owed is due immediately, or within 7 days if you resigned.
• Late wages (Article 40(c)). An employer that pays late owes you 6% a year on the delayed wage for up to six months, rising by 1% for each further month, to a ceiling of 12% a year.
• How it is paid (Article 46). Since 2018 the employer is only discharged once it pays through the mechanism the Minister sets, the Wage Protection System, which the LMRA's booklet says is mandatory for private employers.
• Deductions (Article 45). No more than 25% of the wage may be withheld or deducted for a debt, or 50% for a maintenance debt, and you can give up part of your wage only with your written consent.
• Priority (Article 48). Your wages and every amount owed under the law come before all the employer's other debts, including debts to the state.

Minimum wage. Law 36/2012 sets no minimum wage for the private sector. No article fixes a national figure; the wage is whatever your contract states (Article 20), and the rules above protect how it is paid. Figures you may see quoted online are not in the law, so check any claimed minimum against an official source before relying on it.

Notice and resignation (Articles 99 to 103 and 112)

Either side may end an indefinite contract with 30 days' notice, in writing, handed over against a signature or sent by registered post (Articles 99(a) and 100). The contract runs as normal during the notice. If the employer gave notice, you may take a day a week, or 8 hours a week, off on full pay to look for a new job (Article 99(c)).

Whoever ends the contract without the notice owes the other side the wage for the notice period, or the part not served (Article 99(b)), on the basic wage plus the social allowance (Article 47). Notice served during your leave only starts the day after the leave ends, and the employer may not end the contract during any of your leave (Article 102). The employer may release you from your notice, but an agreement letting the employer skip the notice it owes you is void (Article 103). A worker who resigns owes the employer compensation only in the narrow cases of Article 112.

The Bahrain notice period calculator prices pay in lieu and sets out the LMRA rules for resignation step by step.

Dismissal and compensation (Articles 104 to 111 and 113 to 117)

The law sorts the end of a contract into four kinds:

• Unfair dismissal (Article 104). Dismissal for sex, colour, religion, belief, marital status, family responsibilities, pregnancy, childbirth or nursing, union membership or activity, a complaint or case against the employer, taking leave you are entitled to, or an attachment on your wages is unfair. For union reasons the court can order reinstatement.
• Dismissal without notice (Article 107). Eleven grounds, such as forged certificates, a serious fault causing material loss reported within two working days, or more than 20 broken or 10 consecutive days of unexcused absence in a year after written warnings. It removes notice and compensation, not the indemnity.
• Other employer exits. Poor performance needs written notice of the shortfall and at least 60 days to improve (Article 109). A closure or downsizing needs 30 days' notice to the Ministry and pays half the Article 111 compensation (Article 110). The employer may end the contract at age 60 without compensation unless agreed otherwise (Article 115), and may not end it for illness until your sick and annual leave are used up (Article 117).
• Worker exits. You may leave without notice if the employer or its representative assaults you or commits an indecent act against you or your family, and that counts as unfair dismissal (Article 105). You may leave with notice over a serious breach or fraud by the employer, once you have asked in writing for it to be put right and up to 30 days have passed; if your claim is proven, that counts as the employer ending the contract without a lawful cause (Article 106).

The employer must prove a dismissal was lawful (Article 101). If it was not, Article 111 sets the compensation for an indefinite contract at two days' wage for each month of service, at least one month's wage and at most twelve, with part-months counted as whole months, and adds half as much again if the dismissal was unfair under Article 104 or 105. For a fixed-term contract it is the wage for the rest of the term, or an agreed lower amount of at least three months' wage or the rest of the term, whichever is less.

Worked example. A worker on BHD 650 basic plus a BHD 50 social allowance is dismissed without a lawful reason after 4 years, 1 month and 10 days. Article 47 puts the compensation on BHD 700, a daily wage of BHD 23.333 taking the month as 30 days, as Mukafi's calculators do.

This sits on top of the indemnity, notice pay and unused leave, which the Bahrain final settlement calculator adds up. Two more rules matter at the end of a job: if a worker with at least a year's service dies during the contract, the employer pays the family two months' full wage (Article 113), and a claim for compensation over a dismissal must be filed within 30 days of the contract ending (Article 135).

Indemnity and the SIO (Articles 47 and 116)

Article 116 pays a worker outside the Social Insurance Law half a month's wage for each of the first three years of service and a month's wage for each year after, with part-years paid pro rata and no cap. It is calculated on the last basic wage plus the social allowance, if any (Article 47). Resigning does not reduce it, and nor does dismissal without notice. Bahraini workers, who are insured with the SIO, have its pension scheme instead.

Since 1 March 2024, under Resolution No. 109 of 2023, the indemnity for expatriate workers' service from that date is funded by monthly employer contributions to the SIO, 4.2% of the wage in the first three years and 8.4% after, and is claimed from the SIO. Service before that date is still the employer's to pay. The amount did not change, only who pays.

The Bahrain indemnity calculator applies Article 116 on your own dates, and our guide to indemnity in Bahrain and how to claim it from the SIO explains the split.

Bahrain law for expat workers

The Labour Law applies to Bahraini and expatriate workers alike, and since 2018 Article 2 bis bars discrimination between them on origin. These are the rules that work differently for expats:

• Work permit (Law 19/2006). Your permit is issued and managed by the LMRA, not under the Labour Law.
• Indemnity. Expatriates are the workers the 2024 SIO scheme covers, so service from 1 March 2024 is claimed from the SIO.
• Redundancy. In a partial closure or downsizing, a Bahraini worker with the same competence and experience as a foreign colleague must not be the one let go (Article 110, as amended in 2015).
• Your contract in Arabic. If your contract is in English, it must carry an Arabic version, and the Arabic is what the law requires (Article 19).
• Grievances. The LMRA's Expat Protection Centre in North Sehla and its line 995 take complaints about unpaid wages and dues.

Claims and the labour court in Bahrain (Articles 5, 6 and 119 to 136)

A claim follows a fixed route:

1. Settlement, if both sides agree (Article 119). The Ministry of Labour's Individual Labour Disputes Settlement Authority tries to settle the dispute. A settlement it records and both sides sign can be enforced like a judgment.
2. Filing the case (Articles 120 and 121). A labour case starts with a statement of claim filed at the Labour Case Administration Office of the Ministry of Justice.
3. Case administration judge (Articles 123 and 130). A judge prepares the case within two months, extendable by two more, and proposes a settlement.
4. The court (Articles 131 to 134). If there is no settlement, the High Civil Court hears the case urgently and rules within 30 days of its first hearing. Its judgment is final, subject to an appeal to the Court of Cassation.

Workers pay no court fees, although the court may order costs against a claim it rejects (Article 6). Two deadlines decide whether you are heard at all: 30 days from the end of the contract for compensation over a dismissal, paused while the dispute is before the settlement authority (Article 135), and one year for every other labour claim (Article 136). Any settlement that cuts or waives your rights, signed during the contract or within three months after it, is void (Article 5).

The final settlement calculator gives you the figure to claim, broken down by article.

Every Mukafi calculator for Bahrain

Each one applies the articles named next to it:

• Bahrain indemnity calculator: leaving indemnity, Articles 47 and 116
• Bahrain final settlement calculator: everything owed when you leave, Articles 40, 47, 59, 99 and 116
• Bahrain leave salary calculator: unused annual leave on basic plus social allowance, Articles 47 and 59
• Bahrain annual leave calculator: leave days earned, Article 58
• Bahrain overtime calculator: overtime and rest-day pay, Articles 54 and 57
• Bahrain notice period calculator: pay in lieu of notice, Articles 47 and 99

This guide explains the law and is not legal advice. For a disputed claim, take it to the Ministry of Labour, the LMRA's Expat Protection Centre, or a qualified Bahraini lawyer.

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