Minister of Labor and Social Development Ali Al-Ghafis approved the transfer of services of domestic workers and their dependents from one employer to another under 13 circumstances. The new measure is aimed at regulating the employment market and providing opportunities for household workers, including drivers and maid servants, as well as their dependents to find jobs in the event of certain situations for which they are not responsible, Saudi Press Agency reported on Sunday quoting the ministry sources. These include delay on the part of the employer in the payment of wages for three months, failure to receive domestic help upon their arrival in the Kingdom, failure to take them from shelters within 15 days after their arrival in the Kingdom, delay of more than 30 days in the issuance or renewal of residency permit (iqama), renting out the service of the domestic worker to another employer without the knowledge of the worker, assigning the domestic help to work with those other than their close relatives, and assigning the worker to do jobs that pose danger to his/her health or safety. According to the minister's directive, a domestic worker's service can also be transferred to another employer in the event of mistreatment of the worker by the employer or his family members. Other situations include false complaint about running away of a worker, failure to attend two sittings to examine the complaint filed by the worker, and disappearance of the employer either because of his travel, imprisonment, death or any other reasons resulting in the failure of salary disbursement for three months in a row. The minister can take a decision on transfer of service in other individual or common cases. Al-Ghafis has also instructed that the new employer can hire a worker on probation for a period of not more than 15 days before starting the process of hiring but the worker has to be paid the wages for this period. The new employer has to pay the fee for transfer of services in addition to the expense for hosting the worker at the shelter home, with SR150 for each day, the ministry said.
