Kuwaitis must have minimum salary of KD1,000 to recruit Filipino domestic workers
Families with more than five members need to have income of KD2,000
Dubai: Kuwaiti citizens intending to recruit Filipino domestic workers must have a minimum salary of KD1,000 for a family of three members, Arabic daily Al Jarida reported.
Meanwhile, families with 3 to 5 members have to show salary certificates of KD1,500, and families with more than 5 members should have a minimum income of KD2,000.
The paper stated that the new conditions were put in place by the Philippine embassy so as to ensure that the household could afford the domestic worker and pay her salary on time and adhere to the terms of the contract and to provide a decent life to the worker.
Bassam Al Shammari, Head of the Voluntary Committee to Follow Upon the Status of Domestic Workers, said that the decision was taken after noticing that non-payment of salary and delay in payment were among the most notable complaints received by the embassy.
The suspension of recruitment for more than a year was due to several complaints on this matter, including mistreatment.
Al Shammari said the new conditions would ensure Kuwait’s image was protected in the international community as well as reduce disputes between employers and employees.
He stated that domestic recruitment offices suffer from a lack of recruitment requests from Manila, due to the reluctance of female workers to come to the country, preferring other neighbouring countries, for several reasons, foremost of which is the administrative deportations that take place in Kuwait, even before the completion of the contractual period.