RIYADH — Housemaids will constitute 25 percent of the total foreign manpower to be recruited from countries which are sending domestic help to the Kingdom, according to new regulations issued by the Ministry of Labor on Tuesday. This will be effective from June 1 (Monday). This is part of the measures to address the delay in the recruitment of housemaids to meet the growing demand in the local market. The ministry has taken the measure as part of series of regulations announced on Tuesday to improve the local domestic help market and facilitate uninterrupted flow of domestic workers, the Saudi Press Agency reported. The ministry noted that one of the reasons for the delay in hiring housemaids was that the recruitment firms were giving priority to male workers. Therefore, the ministry, in cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Saudi embassies, has introduced this new regulation. The ministry said in a statement that a specialized team has been constituted to carry out studies and review recruitment fee and salary of domestic workers after comparing these with the rates prevailing in other Gulf states. On the basis of the committee's recommendations, the ministry has fixed maximum salary and recruitment fee for domestic workers from Bangladesh and Niger. According to the regulations, the maximum salary for Bangladesh and Niger is SR800 and SR750 respectively. The recruitment fee for Bangladesh and Niger shall not exceed SR7,000. The ministry has directed all the recruitment companies and offices to strictly adhere to this directive effective from May 24. The committee is currently carrying out studies to fix the cost of recruitment and salary for domestic help from countries such as the Philippines, India, Sri Lanka, and Vietnam with whom the Kingdom has concluded labor pacts in this regard. Ahmad Al-Fuhaid, deputy minister for international affairs, said the ministry has reached an agreement with the government of India in this regard. Al-Fuhaid is heading the Saudi delegation visiting India, Bangladesh and some other countries to finalize the procedures for hiring domestic help. The ministry has also fixed 60 days as the maximum period for the recruitment of domestic workers. The recruitment firms are allowed to accept only 25 percent of the contract amount at the time of signing the pact. The remaining amount shall be paid only when the beneficiary receives a written acknowledgement that the fee has been processed to stamp the visa on the passport of the domestic worker. The ministry regulations also include fine for the delay in the arrival of domestic workers. The recruitment firm shall pay SR100 for each day after the expiry of the 60-day period, with the condition that the maximum fine shall not exceed SR3,000. If the worker's entry was delayed for more than 30 days, then the contract will be deemed cancelled temporarily, and the recruitment firm shall refund the amount paid to it.
