What is a facility inspection checklist?

It is a list of all the areas that will be inspected, including its sub-areas and could extend to cover the items included in each area. 

 

How is a facility inspection conducted?

• A facility inspection is conducted by going through the inspection checklist and physically verifying the operational status of an appliance or the condition of a building or service.
• Defects found are registered and Work Orders are immediately raised to resolve the issue.
• Generally, an inspection includes All common/shared areas, then extends to some or all of the housing units, in addition to all the external areas that are attached to the facility, such as parking spaces or basements.

 

What are the types of safety inspection?

A Safety inspection is either internal or external

• Internal inspections are conducted by Facilities Management staff, to implement either Regular Safety checks that take place on a daily basis.
• External inspections are conducted by either the client occupying a specific facility, or by the local Government to assure Safety, Security and Compliance to specifications of manpower housing.

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What is security in facilities management

Security in Facilities Management include, but is not limited to, the following activities:

• Keeping a 24/7 guard service for all entry and exit point of a facility.
• Maintaining a 24/7 surveillance for internal and external areas of a facility through a competent system (Cameras and recording capability).
• Handling and reporting any facility Security violations whether by tenants or external parties.

 

What are the main goals of facility security management?

• Maintaining safety in each building
• Protecting each building from possible threats or hazards
• Providing assurance for tenants of the level of Security that is provided in their residence.

 

How can you have good facility security management?

• Security guards must be healthy and aware.
• Security team must be trained on handling both regular and difficult situations.
• Surveillance systems must be up to date, and well maintained
• Surveillance systems must cover all vital areas that could represent a Security threat.
• Surveillance systems must be well attended daily.
• Security threats must be observed, analyzed and addressed promptly to avoid a threat from becoming a reality.

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What are soft services in facilities management?

• There’s nothing specific called “Soft Services” as part of Facilities Management.
• However, in any discipline/business entity, Soft Skills is a known set of skills that are required for each successful and competent professional, such as:
  • Interpersonal Skills
  • Communication Skills
  • Problem Solving Skills
  • Time Management Skills,
  • And many others.

 

What is housekeeping in facilities management?

Housekeeping takes care of all the activities inside an apartment or office or even a common/shared area, such as:

• Cleaning
• Organization
• Changing table cloth or bed linen
• Posting informational notices when and where needed
• Clearing and verifying the closure of maintenance work orders
• Other relevant activities as the need may arise

 

Is cleaning part of facility management

• Cleaning of all common/shared areas is usually a part of facility management, including collection and disposal of trash on a daily basis.
• Cleaning inside apartments is only limited to shared areas in shared housing and is not conducted at all if housing is single (to be done by the tenant in that case)

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What is included in periodic maintenance service?

In a periodic maintenance of a facility, the following are the main items checked:

• Air conditioners
• Water boilers
• Smoke detectors
• Fire extinguishers
• Elevators
• Electric appliances
• Lighting and light bulbs
• Plumbing and water leakages
• Condition of walls (in terms or paint and moisture).
• Overall condition of doors
• Overall condition of furniture
• All common/shared areas of any building (such as Gym, Swimming Pool, Dining Facility, etc.).
• Surveillance systems
• Any external areas that belong to the building (such as parking spaces).

 

What are the benefits of periodic maintenance?

• It keeps facilities at top shape.
• Enables fast restoration of operational condition of any damaged item.
• Enables the analysis of repeated malfunctions or damages to specific buildings in order to identify any trends and design the overall Maintenance Plan accordingly.

 

What is the difference between periodic and out of cycle maintenance?

• Periodic maintenance is pre-planned at set intervals, aiming to conduct regular routine maintenance that is aimed at assuring the operational condition of a building, with all its premises.
• Out-of-Cycle maintenance is an activity taken to address a specific issue that has emerged, denoting a specific damage or malfunction, which requires a special and immediate attention to resolve it (such as a Water Boiler or AC that stops functioning and might require repair or replacement)

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What are the legal requirements for an employer?

The employer must be:

• A legal entity registered in the Chamber of Commerce of the country of operation.
• A licensed member of any agency that is needed to allow the employer to conduct business.
• Able to hire local manpower to contribute to the Government’s programs for encouraging local nationals’ employment.
• Able to demonstrate commitment with all local Immigration and Labor laws when required to submit documentation or undergo an audit.

 

What are the local laws that protect the labor community?

• Kuwait Labor Law (2006)
• Ministerial Decree No. 199 (2010) on Specifications of Manpower Housing.
• Legal protocols between Kuwait and countries of manpower represented on its land (administered through the respective embassies).
• National entities concerned with the application of International Human Rights and Combatting Trafficking in Persons.

 

How does employment law affect employers and employees?

• It provides a shared platform for balanced compliance between duties and rights of each party.
• It protects employees’ rights against employers who violate the law by allowing the opportunity for fair litigation under the jurisdiction of local laws.
• It protects the employer from employees who violate their Employment Agreements and attempt to deprive the employer from the right for a fair contribution with the agreed time, effort and skills.

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What is employment immigration compliance?

This refers to the activities that each employer must do and documents that must be maintained in order to ensure that the employment process is in full compliance to local immigration laws and that each employee is able to work legally in Kuwait (or whatever Host Country may be), without issues to the employee or the employer.

What is a common immigration compliance risk?

A common immigration compliance risk is delaying the renewal of an employee’s work permit or residency, thus leaving the employee without a legal status in the country, not to mention if the employee goes to work while he is out of status.

What is a compliance issue at work?

A compliance issue that is common at work for some employers is the delay in paying employees’ salaries, or, even worse, not paying them at all for extended periods of time, while continuing to require them to work every day as usual. This exposes the employee to a “Trafficking in Persons” situation that is created by the employer’s lack of commitment to immigration and labor laws.

What is the compliance checklist?

The compliance checklist could contain, but is not limited to, the following items:

• Each employee has received a clear work offer in his/her home country explaining all the basic details about the position hired for, duties and rights associated with the employment.
• Each employee has received an Employment Agreement that matches the details of the Job Offer received prior to arrival, and that further explain detailed rights and duties of both parties (the employee and the employer).
• Each employee has obtained an accredited medical clearance prior to leaving their home country.
• Each employee has obtained an accredited background clearance prior to leaving their home country.
• Each employee has cleared both medical and security checks upon arrival.
• A sub-list of each benefit that is stated in the employee’s Employment Agreement/Job Offer, to include, but is not limited to, the following:
  • Position Title
  • Work Hours
  • Work Location(s)
  • Transportation
  • Housing
  • Food or food allowance
  • Salary details
  • Travel benefits
  • Medical Insurance
  • Life Insurance (if provided)
  • Other benefits specific to the employee’s job (such as free uniforms, PPE, etc.).

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What documents are employers required to keep

In order to open a Labor file, employers need to present a list of documents including the project to be executed, the Commercial Registration documents, Authorized Signatory and log the positions required online.

What documents are required for employee payroll

Employees obtain an offer letter when still in their home country and are given an Employment Agreement when they reach Kuwait. Once the employee is in Kuwait, the Onboarding program takes care of the necessary steps needed to register the employee in the Payroll system of KRH.

How long should employees’ files be kept?

Employee files should be kept for at least 6 years after they have departed Kuwait.

Do employee files need to be locked up?

Yes, employee files need to be kept within limited access by HR or other authorized Auditing agencies and parties.

Can employees request and see their HR files?

Yes, if an employee has a specific request to review or update the content of his employment file, he/she can do so with the help of a Human Resources Representative.

What is legally required in a personnel file

The minimum requirements in a personnel file are:

• Offer letter copy
• Employment Agreement copy
• Copies of educational qualifications
• Copies of the employee’s vacations, violations, and other employment related records.

Does an employer have to give you a copy of your contract?

Yes, absolutely, the employer must provide the employee with a copy of the Employment Agreement that is in Arabic, English and in the native language of the employee as well.

 

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What are the different types of visa sponsorships in Kuwait?

In Kuwait, there’s a Temporary Visit Visa, known as “Commercial Visit Visa (14C)”, which enable the visitor to conduct work for a limited period of time. However, if the visitor will need to be working in Kuwait for a longer period of time (more of a permanent nature, he will processed for a Work Visa, known as Visa 18. Additionally, there are other types of visas for Family Sponsorship, Home Maids and Ministry of Defense visas

 

What is the eligibility for getting a sponsorship visa in Kuwait?

If a candidate succeeds in obtaining a valid employment offer from a Kuwaiti employer, the latter will begin the procedures of sponsoring the former in Kuwait, with a Visa 18 (Permanent Work Visa). However, if the expat will only be visiting for a temporary period of time, he will be also sponsored by a Kuwaiti entity for a temporary Commercial Visit Visa, known as 14C.

 

What documents are required to obtain a sponsorship visa in Kuwait?

Usually, ID documents, educational qualifications, medical check and police clearance, in addition to recent photos, are the minimum documents required for a Kuwaiti company/sponsor to begin the procedures of sponsoring an expat whether on a temporary basis (visa 14C), or on a permanent basis (visa 18).

 

How will KRH help in obtaining, approving and processing the above documents for sponsorship?

KRH has a full-fledged department with highly experienced staff that undertakes the process from A-Z. Once KRH Sponsorship team is informed of a visa requirement (whether a temporary Visa 14C or a permanent Visa 18), they will communicate with the candidate to guide him/her every step of the way, until the visa is issued and sent back to the candidate, to carry with him/her prior to boarding the flight to Kuwait.

 

What are the stages of obtaining a sponsorship visa (from application to meet and greet)?

The steps are:

• Communicating with the candidate to obtain the list of documents
• Applying for the Non-Objection Certificate (known as NOC1)
• Once NOC1 is issued, it is then sent to the candidate and to KRH’s Travel Agency
• When the candidate’s flight is determined, the meet and greet service takes place by the person/team that will have custody of the candidate’s onboarding process.

 

What is a work visa and an iqama?

• A work visa allows a candidate to work legally in Kuwait. It varies in validity from 1 to 3 years.
• An Iqama in Kuwait, is known as the “Civil ID”, which is both a Plastic Card and a phone application that has the main information of the resident and the validity of his/her residency.

 

What is an employment offer to obtain a work visa?

• An employment offer is the initial offer that the employer extends to the candidate who has proven to have the adequate skills, qualifications and past experience required for a certain position. 
• The employment offer should include basic information such as full name of the candidate, position title, basic salary, date of employment begin, number of work hours, other benefits such as housing, transportation, airline tickets, etc.

 

What are the requirements from both sides (the employer and the employee) to obtain a sponsorship?

• The employer should have in place, a valid Labor file that has position slots that are relevant to the positions being hired. 
• The employer must also have a clear record with the Public Authority for Manpower “PAM”, to assure the Labor file is open and ready to receive new candidates.
• A third and core requirement for each Labor file, is a bank guarantee that is paid in full by the employer prior to using the labor file to ensure all employees who will be placed against slots in that file, will be returned home safely at the end of their employment. That bank guarantee is reimbursed to the company once the file is closed and all employees who were assigned to it are legally cleared from the file.
• The employee needs to have:

o   Educational qualifications required for the position applied for

o   ID documents

o   Clear Medical records

o   Police clearance from the home country

What is the role of the Ministry of Social Affairs & Labor in obtaining a sponsorship?

The Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor undertakes the following responsibilities:

• Ensure the labor files granted to employers match the actual requirements of the business contract undertaken
• Ensure candidates placed against slots in the labor file are adequately qualified and correctly assigned
• Oversee the entire process of deployment until the employee is in Kuwait and is legally working with a valid Work Permit.
• Protect the rights of both employees and employers by overseeing any litigation between the two.
• Ensure the safe exit of each employee prior to closure of any labor file

What is the role of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in obtaining a work visa?

• The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will attest employees’ and expats documents as needed once they arrive and are in need of doing so, provided that an attestation from the expats’ respective embassies is obtain first.
• Prior to arriving in Kuwait, the Kuwaiti embassy interacts with candidates in their respective home countries to facilitate the obtainment of work visas in Kuwait.

 What is the role of the Kuwaiti Embassy in obtaining a work visa?

When a candidate has obtained an employment offer, the Kuwaiti Embassy must check the following for correctness and accuracy:

• The work offer
• The candidates medical record from his/her home country
• The candidates police clearance certificate from his/her home country

Once that is checked and verified, it is mailed back to the candidate to continue the processing of his/her visa.

 

What is the role of the Ministry of Interior in obtaining a work permit and NOC?

• Once the candidate arrives to Kuwait, he/she will undergo another series of medical check “administered by the Ministry of Health” and a new capture of  his/her fingerprints to both have it in the system, and check if that person has any previous issues, from a previous residency or employment in Kuwait.

 

What is an NOC?

• It is Non-Objection Certificate issued by the Public Authority of Manpower to denote the Ministry’s approval for the expat to come to Kuwait and occupy the position being processed for a Permanent Work Visa, known as Visa 18.

 

Medical Examinations before entry to Kuwait?

• Medical examinations before entry to Kuwait usually test diseases that can be detected by blood analysis, urine analysis and chest X-ray. This could include, but is not limited to, Virus C, HIV, Pregnancy for females, TB and others.

 

Does a company have to offer health insurance for all employees?

Yes, as per Kuwaiti Labor Law, and also any other Labor Law in any of the countries we operate, a Government medical coverage is mandatory.

 

Why do companies buy life insurance on employees?

Companies that appreciate the importance of its human capital, buy life insurance for employees. 

 

Is life insurance mandatory for all employees?

Life insurance is not mandatory for employees. However, KRH provides life insurance as an added benefit to all its direct staff and project employees alike as a token of appreciation to their important role as valued KRH family members.

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What is the process of travel for new hires?

The process of travel for new hires, includes making the required reservations to enable them to fly from their country of origin to the country where their work will be located. It is usually part of the benefits given to any new hire. 

 

Why is it important to hire a travel management company?

KRH has its own Travel Agency that is integrated into our business model. This is important because it enables KRH to plan travel for all its employees seamlessly, whether it is a first time mobilization, vacation travel or end of service demobilization to the country of origin. The company can usually benefit from mass-reservations in terms of availability and better pricing of tickets.

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