Qatar and UK
Introduction
United Kingdom is located in Europe, while Qatar is a peninsular country in South Western Asia. Qatar was under colonial rule of Britain until it gained independence. English is the first language in the UK and second official in Qatar, after Arabic. The two nations share a number of similarities and differences in terms of economic and social life.
Work Similarities between UK and Qatar
The two nations, Qatar and UK, emphasize that employees should work for a maximum of 48 hours a week. Labour laws in the UK and Qatar also necessitate for the signing of an employment contract between the employer and the employee. This document should include terms of employment such as the end of service benefits, working hours and gross salary. Both employees and employers are required to give a written notice in case of a contract termination. Gross salaries for the specific jobs in Qatar and Britain are similar, for instance, payments for the engineers. In both the nations, employers are required to compensate their employees with overtime payment for every extra hour worked in a day (Schömann, Lörcher, & Bruun, 2014).
Difference between the Work in Qatar and UK
Work in Qatar promises a higher take-home salary amount compared to that in the UK. In Qatar, net salary is high since it is tax-free. In Britain, employees are deducted personal taxes. Employees in Qatar are also guaranteed reduced working hours, only six hours a day, during the month of Ramadan (Benach, Muntaner, Santana& Chairs, 2007). The United Kingdom’s labour system guarantees job security since the law allows for the trade unions that facilitate for the collective bargaining. Qatar had dissolved trade unions in order to minimize the frequencies of strikes across the country. In the UK, the law states the national minimum wage for all workers. In Qatar, there is no set minimum wage for employees (Naithani & Jha, 2010).
Similarities between Qatar and UK food and drinks. The two nations, Qatar and UK, are not self-sufficient in the supplies of their food and drinks. A significant amount of food and drinks supplies in both the countries is obtained through import. The cost of food in the market in the UK and Qatar is similar. The rising prices in the global market have significant impact on the prices of many food and drinks supplies imported by Qatar and Britain. Organic produce, dairy products, meat and drinks are readily available in the markets in both Qatar and the UK. Fresh local fruits, vegetables and fish are also always in supply in the two countries. Most of the food can be found on shelves in large supermarkets (“More than half of UK’s”, 2016).
Differences between Qatar and UK food and drinks. Qatar is highly affected by the global market commodity prices, imported foods and drinks. UK imports 40% of the country’s food and drinks, while Qatar imports about 90% of all food supplies in the country (Pretty et al., 2008). The high percentage of imported goods makes them costly due to rising prices in the global market. In the UK, an individual can buy alcohol without requesting for any kind of permission. However, in Qatar, employees have to seek a written permit from their employers for buying alcohol. Alcoholic drinks are more expensive in Qatar than in Britain, and even more expensive if consumed outside of home. Pork is also not allowed in restaurants in Qatar (Hertel, Keeney, Ivanic, & Winters, 2009).
Conclusion
Qatar and Britain are both well developed nations. The cost of living there would depend on the individual. Both countries also have set employment conditions. Still, despite being very rich, they rely heavily on import to meet the population’s gastronomic needs.
References
Benach, J., Muntaner, C., Santana, V. & Chairs, F. (2007). Employment conditions and health inequalities. Final Report to the WHO Commission on Social Determinants of Health (CSDH) Employment Conditions Knowledge Network (EMCONET). Geneva: WHO. Retrieved from www.who.int/social_determinants/resources/articles/emconet_who_report.pdf
Hertel, T. W., Keeney, R., Ivanic, M. & Winters, L. A. (2009). Why isn’t the Doha Development Agenda more poverty friendly?. Review of Development Economics, 13(4), 543-559. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-9361.2008.00483.x
More than half of UK’s food sourced from abroad, study finds. (2016, January 6). The Guardian. Retrieved from www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/jan/06/more-than-half-of-uks-food-sourced-from-abroad-study-finds
Naithani, P., & Jha, A.N. (2010). Challenges faced by expatriate workers in the GCC countries. International Journal of Business and Management, 5 (1), 98-104. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.5539/ijbm.v5n1p98
Pretty, J. N., Brett, C., Gee, D., Hine, R. E., Mason, C. F., Morison, J. I. L., … & Van der Bijl, G. (2008). An assessment of the total external costs of UK agriculture. Agricultural Systems, 65(2), 113-136. Retrieved from www.julespretty.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/1.-AgSyst-pdf.pdf
Schömann, I., Lörcher, K.& Bruun, N. (2014). The economic and financial crisis and collective labour law in Europe. Oxford: Hart Publishing.