Dr. Anas Faisal Al Turah
Assistant Professor of Civil Law – College of Law – University of Kuwait

Abstract:

In this descriptive analytical research, we highlight the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on the employment contracts in the State of Kuwait. This pandemic has not been witnessed by the world before and is considered one of the most prominent health crises with economic impact in the modern era. That impact required us to discuss the most important theories regulated by the civil law in the ruling of disasters and crises, specifically the theories of emergency circumstances and force majeure, as well as discussing the extent of their applicability to labor activities in light of Labor Law No. 6 of 2010.
This research includes detailed analysis about labor activities that have been completely halted due to precautionary measures taken by official decisions in the State of Kuwait, as well as activities which have not been halted but suffered negative impacts and faced difficulties due to these procedures. The research also clarifies the different legal impact on different activities. It was also necessary for the completion of the analysis of this research to study and review the reality of legal solutions mentioned in the labor law in the Kuwaiti private sector. We conclude with a number of legal proposals that require the amendment of some of its articles, in line with health and economic crises.
This study starts with an introductory chapter on the history of the emerging Covid-19 pandemic and the most important legislation and decisions issued in this regard. Then we divide the research into two chapters, the first chapter deals with the extent to which the theories of emergency circumstances and force majeure apply to the Covid-19 pandemic, with a presentation of the types of commercial activities and fields in light of the pandemic. The second chapter deals with some aspects of the legislative confrontation of the Covid-19 pandemic, with a detailed presentation of the most prominent legislative tools under the current law, in addition to a presentation of the proposed legislative ideas to face the impacts of the pandemic.
We concluded the research with a number of important results. The first result is the distinction between activities to which the provisions of the emergency circumstances theory apply and those to which the provisions of force majeure theory apply. We indicated that the current law will not be able to absorb the impacts of the emerging Covid-19 pandemic, and that there is an urgent need for legislative amendments that will establish balanced and practical legal solutions for the mentioned problems.
In addition, we made some legislative proposals to confront the impacts of the emerging Covid-19 pandemic on labor facilities. We also recommended to issuing them with promptness to avoid exacerbating the problems arising from the pandemic. Moreover, it is an important to establish a special court for labor lawsuits resulting from the emerging Covid-19 pandemic for taking prompt decisions due to the large expected numbers.

Keywords: Legislative solutions, legal issues, dismissal for economic conditions, reduce wages, closure of the facility.

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