Switching jobs in Bahrain: how to resign and what you keep

How to resign

Hand your notice over and ask for a signature on your copy, or send it by registered post (Art. 100).

Fill in a Bahrain resignation letter with your own names and dates.

Your employer can release you from some or all of the notice (Art. 103). Get that in writing.

Leaving without notice

Walk out without notice, and the contract ends that same day (Art. 99).

Your employer can claim compensation only if, on top of skipping the notice, you left at a bad time, to cause harm, or caused serious damage. A court decides that (Art. 112).

An assault or an immoral act against you lets you leave without notice. It is treated as unfair dismissal (Art. 105).

For a serious breach or fraud, first ask your employer in writing to fix it within 30 days. Then you may end the contract with notice (Art. 106).

Next: Resignation letter for Bahrain

How much notice you give

• Open-ended contract: 30 days in writing (Arts. 99 and 100).
• Probation: at least 1 day (Art. 21).
• Fixed-term contract: check your contract and ask the Ministry of Labour before you end it early.

An employer may agree a longer notice when it ends the contract. The law sets no longer period for you (Art. 99).

Your indemnity after you resign

Article 116 has no cut for resigning. It pays half a month's wage a year for your first 3 years, then a month a year.

It is worked out on your latest basic wage plus any social allowance (Art. 47).

Expats: service from 1 March 2024

For expats in the private sector, SIO pays the gratuity for service from 1 March 2024 (Decision 109 of 2023). It uses the same half-month and one-month rates.

Moving to a new employer keeps the SIO gratuity you have built up (SIO). Ask SIO what resigning means for the part it pays.

Your service before 1 March 2024 is still paid by your employer under the Labour Law.

More: do I get gratuity if I resign in Bahrain?

Resigning during probation

Probation lasts up to 3 months, or up to 6 for some jobs the Minister sets. It must be written into your contract, and only once (Art. 21).

Either of you can end it with 1 day's notice or more (Art. 21).

Your final pay

When you leave of your own accord, your employer has up to 7 days from the day you leave to pay everything you are owed (Art. 40).

Late wages carry compensation of 6% a year (Art. 40).

For your SIO part, SIO pays within 5 working days of a complete application (SIO).

The Ministry of Labour's complaint service takes workers who are still in the job, with a valid permit. So raise a pay problem before your last day.

Once the job has ended, claims go to the Labour Case Administration Office at the Ministry of Justice. You have 1 year from the end of the contract to bring a claim (Art. 136).

Next: Was my final pay late?

Moving to a new employer

When your work permit is cancelled, you must leave Bahrain within 30 days, or transfer to another employer (bahrain.bh).

If your permit expires or ends, you can stay 30 days to find a new employer. An employer can renew that once, for 30 more days, at the NPRA (LMRA).

Ask your new employer and the LMRA how the transfer works, and in what order, before you resign.

Unemployment insurance does not pay after a resignation (Decree-Law 78/2006, Art. 10).

Next: Leaving Bahrain instead? How to move your money home