Dubai: With domestic workers in high demand, a variety of maid recruitment agencies have mushroomed in the UAE, offering home help from various countries. However, each one has its own set of rules and code of conduct and levy a charge of anything between Dh5,000 to Dh16,000 as a service fee per successful placement.

One of the exceptions to the rule is the Dubai-based agency MaidCV.com, which charges Dh450 per month. This fee gives the potential sponsor access to details of more than 150 maids on the organisation’s database and includes the registration charge of the client, says Tariq Chikhi, the manager of the organisation.

“We do things differently from the traditional maid agencies as we allow people to review information about available maids for free on our website. Only once you are interested in hiring, do you have to pay the amount for registration, after which we provide detailed information about the maid — her nationality, age, work experience and contact details. We make arrangements for Skype and video interviews. At the moment we have about 150 maids on our database and they come from countries such as the Philippines, Sri Lanka and Africa. Nearly 80 per cent of the candidates are present in the UAE either on a visit visa or are in the process of completing the duration of contract on their previous jobs. So we are able to arrange for face-to-face interviews. Once a person selects a maid, the family has about three weeks to replace the maid in case of dissatisfaction of services. We offer no three-month warranty unlike other companies as we do not charge a huge service fee. Once the maid is selected the sponsor is liable to pay all other fees which includes a Dh5,000 non-refundable visa fee, Dh450 for medical screening, Dh270 for Emirates ID and Dh2,600 deposit fee,” Chikhi said.

Incidentally their sister concern — Perfect Help — also provides two days training for maids for an additional Dh350 fee. This includes lessons in first aid and how to cook, clean and iron among other domestic duties.

Minimum salaries vary

“The salary structure of maids differs from country to country,” adds Chikhi. “While Indonesians and Sri Lankan maids have to be paid a minimum salary of Dh800, those from the Philippines have to be paid a minimum wage of Dh1,400. The governments of African countries have no minimum wage contracts but we insist on a minimum payment of Dh1,000 to these maids. Eventually the salaries go up according to the experience a maid has. A seasoned maid, nanny or housekeeper, can expect a salary of up to Dh3,000 a month. So far the average salary range that our maids enjoy is Dh1,500,” he said.

A similar procedure is followed by another manpower supply agency, Narjes Services Est based in Abu Dhabi, however they charge a service fee of Dh15,500 for an individual looking to sponsor a maid through them. This includes a one-way ticket for the maid from her country of residence.

“The interested party needs to visit our office and go through our database. At the moment we have only five or six maids on our database and all of them are Indonesians. Once a potential sponsor chooses a maid from the photograph and other details we have provided, we have to pay a very high commission to the maid agency in Indonesia to procure the maid. We also give a three-month guarantee to the sponsor. If the maid falls sick in this period, is unable to cope with work or has some other cultural adjustment issues, we offer a replacement or even money back to our clients. If a maid comes to us with a complaint, we also offer to mediate between the two parties. The expected minimum wage for Indonesian maids is Dh1,200 and all other fees to be paid to the government have to be undertaken by the sponsor,” says Vina Ramer, a Narjes Services employee.

Enquiries made to many other maid recruitment agencies revealed a similar pattern of hiring, fee structure and warranty period for hiring international domestic workers in the UAE.