KUWAIT: Interior Minister Sheikh Talal Al-Khaled Al-Sabah on Thursday issued a decision allowing expats in the private sector to work part-time jobs provided the original employer/sponsor allows them, the Public Authority of Manpower said in a statement. The decision takes effect from the start of next month, the authority said.

Under the decision, expats are allowed to work part-time for a maximum of four hours daily, except for the contracting sector, where there is no limit. To be able to do a part-time job, expats must obtain the approval of their employers and secure a work permit for that purpose from the Public Authority of Manpower.

According to the statement, the main aim of the decision is to allow the better utilization of expat manpower already in Kuwait instead of new recruitment to help efforts underway to rebalance the demographic structure in the country, which is heavily tilted in favor of expats, who form over two-thirds of the population of 4.5 million.

Under current stringent employment rules, expat workers must stay with their sponsors under the so-called kafala system, and risk deportation if they are caught working for others. Kuwait seeks to create a balance between its native population of around 1.5 million and expats who are at least double this number in a series of procedures and steps aimed at cutting the number of foreigners in the country.

In another major step, the interior minister asked the Public Authority of Manpower to let employers allow some of their employees to work from home in professions where workers can do the work without the need to be physically present in the office, the authority said. Online work will be carried out in accordance with guidelines to be set by the manpower authority.

Meanwhile, five Islamist and liberal political groups on Thursday issued a joint statement in which they strongly criticized calls to suspend the country’s constitution and parliamentary life in order to amend the 61-year-old constitution. The call was made by Ali Al-Tarrah, a professor of sociology at Kuwait University, who said the constitution must be amended to cope with developments in the country and the region. The groups also called on civil societies and other political groups to condemn calls for suspending the constitution.