Tadbeer centres: Hiring domestic workers in the UAE

11 Tadbeer centres out of 24 planned by The Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation have opened operations across the country. The 11 include two centres in Abu Dhabi, four in Dubai, one in Sharjah, three in Ajman and one centre in Fujairah.

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Tadbeer centres have been established to make sure that people only use legitimate channels to hire help and don’t mistreat domestic workers. Domestic worker rights will be enforced properly through these channels. Tadbeer will also ensure that families or sponsors don’t get caught up in paperwork or legal issues.

Tadbeer centres provide the following services for domestic workers and the households employing them:

While they will not replace private recruitment centres immediately, over time they could become pivotal in how people hire domestic help, which includes cleaners, nannies, babysitters, drivers, gardeners, cooks and even private teachers.

The ministry through Tadbeer also works on MoUs with countries including but not limited to the Philippines, India, Indonesia and Ethiopia to ensure that minimum wages and security conditions are feasible for hiring of domestic help from these countries.

Tadbeer hires domestic help from various countries bringing them into the UAE under the sponsorship of the ministry.

All their documents and legal work is completed in-house and they’re trained and accommodated for at least six months. Their profiles are shared with matched families, and then Tadbeer facilitates interviews and further hiring procedures.

They also work with private firms to enable better supply of help across all categories, while making sure that all of the worker’s rights are taken care of which include salary, accommodation, work hours, leave, annual leave and tickets. All private recruitment agencies are also required to register with Tadbeer.

You can hire domestic help from any nationality, to do any category of work depending on what you need or for how long you need help. There are three options provided by Tadbeer.

In this option, domestic help is hired by a family or a business under a temporary contract for six months – during which time the workers would be under the ministry’s sponsorship. After the six-month period, if both parties agree, he or she can be fully transferred to family or business sponsorship for a longer contract.

Transfer fees and monthly salaries are set by Tadbeer to include any and all of the licensing, ID, wages and other paperwork involved. Transfer fees could be anywhere from 3,500 (for help from Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda) or Dh6,000 (for Indian and Nepali help) to Dh8,000 (for Filipino, Indonesian and Sri Lankan workers). Fixed monthly salaries range from 2,300 to Dh2,500 based on the nationality of the worker. This has been set based on inter-governmental MoUs.

This options is for those who don’t want to transfer the sponsorship to themselves. The minimum salary limits are around the same and may differ based on nationalities.

This package allows families and businesses to hire help on hourly, daily, weekly or monthly basis. In this case, wages are set at standard rates, Dh120 for 4 hours, Dh200 for 8 hours, Dh1,120 for 7 days and Dh3,500 for 30 days (one month).

All basic rights of the worker will be taken care of by Tadbeer within the contract. The worker can raise a complaint or issue with the Tadbeer at any time, thereby ensuring that he or she is happy with her employer and work situation.

However, Tadbeer also makes sure employers are happy with their choice. Families as employers can replace a worker immediately in case of disagreements. They are also not liable for any legal issues arising out of the worker’s misdemeanours, if any.