Saudi Arabia: Recruitment of Filipino domestic workers suspended

Dubai: The recruitment of Filipino domestic workers has been suspended in Saudi Arabia following a decision taken by the Ministry of Labor of the Philippines, Saudi media reported.

The media quoted sources as saying that  the recruitment offices had received a letter from the Philippines embassy last week informing them that it will not receive any new applications for the recruitment of domestic workers from the Philippines.

The embassy noted that the suspension was due to new regulations issued by the Ministry of Labour governing the contractual relationship between Filipino domestic workers and their foreign employers.

The Saudi recruitment offices received no further details of the amended regulations and terms and conditions for the recruitment of housemaids.

Saleh Al Qahtani, from a recruitment office, was quoted as saying that the temporary suspension will directly affect the cost of hiring Filipino domestic workers (whose applications have been processed and those who are residing in the kingdom), in addition to delaying the arrival of workers who have been already hired.

Al Qahtani also cited difficulties due to the absence of online facilities related to hiring Filipino workers. “The local recruitment offices need to go personally to the Philippine embassy in Riyadh to make payment of the fee for recruitment procedures in the absence of electronic means of payment or bank transfers.

The total cost of hiring a Filipino domestic worker ranges between SR20,000 and SR23,000, including tax, and Musaned charges amounting to 2.4 per cent as administrative fees of the value of the contract.