Kuwait Court: Domestic workers may leave their job before end of 2-year contract

Kuwait City: The Kuwaiti Court of Appeal stated that domestic workers may not be forced to stay for the full two-years and may leave before their contracts’ end, local media reported.

The announcement came after a domestic worker was charged by her employer for leaving her job before the end of the contract. The court rejected the case.

The court pointed out that according to the Labour Recruitment Law, if a domestic worker wants to leave before the end of their contract their employer is entitled to compensation but cannot force the them to continue the contract as is a form of “modern day slavery”.

According to Law No 68 of 2015, regarding domestic workers, the court said it does not mention that the employer is not required to receive completion after the six-month guarantee period expires or that the workers need to pay their own travel cost.

Article 23 of the Domestic Workers law states that “allocation of end of the service benefit for the domestic worker after the completion of the contract period [must be]equivalent to one month’s wage for each year.”

“There is a balance between the duties of the employer and the employee,” the court stated.