Hey guys, sorry but this may turn out to be a rant and/or a long post. I have no idea how else to vent out my feelings but here goes.
I've been in Qatar for the past 10 months and came here due to my family's financial issues back at home. I was employed by an agency and sent to Qatar directly for work. I was happy that I finally got my break and things would change for the better for my family. I never expected the following to happen after I came to Qatar.
My employer made me sign a new contract. I had already signed a contract in my country with a higher pay and that was already sealed by embassy. When I questioned about the new contract, they lied to me saying it's the same contract as my previous but in Arabic and just to sign it. I reckon this is where everything started.
In my new contract, the salary was different and lower. I accept that this was a mistake on my part which I deeply regret but own to it. This is where I thought that things would hopefully get better but nope, it just got worse.
Every week I was given only one off day and had to work 6 days. In this 6 days I had to work 12 hours with a one hour break included. This added up to 72 or 66 hours per week (am unsure as to how it'll be calculated due to the break). In my new contract it stated that I would work only 48 hours per week and any additional hours would fall into overtime. Yet so far, I have only recieved a salary and never recieved any overtime pay. To make things worse, the current basic pay am recieving is actually lower than my new contract.
I bared all this, for the sake of my family as I've heard that the employees have less power over the employers here. But the problems didn't stop here, even on my off day many curfews were placed and I wasn't able to spend my off day leisurely. And on the other days, I wasn't able to go out anywhere during the hours where I was not at work.
I was baring all this pain but the final nail on the coffin was that I was not provided any healthcare or any medical benifits (my contract stated I would be). When I fell sick, my employer told me to bare the pain and go to the clinic on my off day only. This was unacceptable and I suffered a lot due to this.
All of these built up over time and I have no idea what to do. I have been unfairly employed and never compensated for the work I did. I know I can't do anything much about this as my employer has the power over me and also might have the power over me legally as I'm just another poor worker stuck in here. I'm also unable to leave as they are forcing me to pay a huge amount as compensation if I want to leave. I've not been able to sleep and have been crying all night since the day I got here. I just hope that God gives me strength not be get into suicidal tendencies due to problems am facing currently.
Guys, I apologize for telling you all these but I have no one to talk about this as I'm in a new country with no friends. I'm sorry.