Kuwait has suspended the files of 10,000 companies with five or more workers that failed to pay salaries for between one year and 18 months, First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Sheikh Fahad Yousef Saud Al-Sabah said.
A strict automated system now suspends a company’s file as soon as its salary payments become irregular, the minister told a meeting with private sector company representatives on Wednesday, according to Kuwait Times.
PAM data presented at the meeting showed the wage compliance rate rose to 75.6% in July 2026 from 38.7% a year earlier.
Companies submitted 93,865 requests through the wage protection system between January and September, up 195.6% from the same period last year, the data showed.
Sheikh Fahad cited a case in which a Kuwaiti citizen was registered as earning KD3,000 a month but received only KD180. He said unpaid wages, human trafficking and money laundering damage Kuwait’s reputation and could affect its standing with the Financial Action Task Force.
PAM Director General Rabab Al-Osaimi said some companies were registering fictitious salaries. The authority is working with the Central Bank of Kuwait to close loopholes and tighten oversight of salary payments, she said.
The minister also said a proposal to resume transfers of domestic workers’ residency permits to the private sector was under study. No decision was announced.
