Saudi Arabia, Uganda seal pact on domestic labour
The agreement aims to preserve rights of workers and employers
Cairo: Saudi Arabia and Uganda have signed a cooperation agreement to employ Ugandan domestic labour as the kingdom has recently taken steps to regulate the sector.
The pact was signed in Riyadh by the Saudi Minister of Human resources Ahmed Al Rajhi and Ugandan Minister of Gender, Labour and Social Development Betty Amongi, the Saudi news agency SPA reported.
The agreement caps a series of contacts and talks between both sides to preserve rights of the domestic workers and employers as well as organize their contractual relationship, SPA said.
The new pact lays down a sustainable mechanism to follow up its implementation and effectively engage all stakeholders, it added without details.
Saudi labour authorities have recently sought to regulate the domestic labour market in the kingdom.
To this end, the ministry launched Musaned, a platform responsible for domestic labour, to help customers learn about their rights and duties, and related services including visa issuance, recruitment requests and the contractual relation between the employer and the worker.
The Ministry of Human Resources has also set maximum cost limits for hiring overseas domestic workers from different countries.
They are set at SR9,500 per worker from Uganda, SR10,000 from Thailand, SR10,870 from Kenya, SR13,000 from Bangladesh, SR15,000 from Sri Lanka, SR17,288 from the Philippines, SR7,500 from Burundi, and SR6,900 from Ethiopia, exclusive VAT.
The ministry has said it is necessary to conduct contracting via the Musaned, being the official recruitment platform.
Domestic workers in the kingdom include housekeepers, drivers, housemaids, cleaners, cooks, guards, farmers, tailors, live-in nurses, tutors and nannies.