Friendly environment for WA domestic workers
View(s):Proposed new rules allow weekly off-day, keeping the passport and end of service benefits
By Feizal Samath
Sri Lankan domestic workers will soon be benefited by a proposed new law in the West Asia which provides for a compulsory weekly off day, keeping their passport and the option of returning home within three months of taking a new job if there are problems in the workplace.
It also contains a compulsory requirement for employers to send the salary of the worker to the bank, and end of service benefits.
The proposed law which provides for a common labour contract for all foreign domestic workers is close to being finalised by the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) with the six member states being Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The bulk of Sri Lanka’s over one million, outbound migrant workers work in these countries with Saudi Arabia recording the highest number.
Most of the issues relating to runaways maids or seeking refuge in a Sri Lankan embassy safe-house, often making them illegal migrants, arise out of difficult working conditions. They include unable to understand the language or to operate home utensils; abuse from the employers and inability to return home as the passport is retained by the employer. Non-payment of wages on time and domestics not getting a day off are also key issues.
While GCC countries, preparing to formalise the contract at a meeting later this year, are still reaching a common understanding on the ‘retention of passport’ issue, agreement is believed to have been reached on all other issues, official sources involved in migrant labour issues, said.
The draft law and its benefits were discussed last week during a presentation by L.K. Ruhunage, an independent consultant on migration, during a Colombo consultation on returning migrant workers.
Organised by the Women and Media Collective (WMC), the meeting discussed a WMC research study on the impact of overseas migration on the lives of women migrant returnees. The research was carried out among a small sample of 30 households in Kurunegala in 2012 as a pilot study.
“This is a welcome development,” said Mr. Ruhunuge, formerly attached to the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment who has years of experience in this field.
He said labour attaches in Sri Lankan missions in labour-receiving countries were also meeting this week in Colombo to be updated on migrant worker developments including the unified contract.
According to overseas newspaper reports, the draft law is to be tabled for approval at a meeting of regional labour and social affairs ministers to be held in Manama next October.
It said that once the law is in force in the member-states, it would be possible for the countries to have a common employment contract system for domestic sector workers.
“The GCC states have been forced to take this step because some major manpower exporting countries are imposing their terms on these states and fixing minimum wages. The GCC states do not have separate laws for the domestic workforce sector and house helps are regulated by the labour law in each country, which is leading to serious regulatory challenges,” according to one news report.
Head of a human resource committee at the Federation of GCC Chambers of Commerce, Saher Al Kabi, was quoted as saying that the proposed regional law and common contract system for maids in the region could go a long way in helping battle the problem of runaway workers.
Head of an association of Kuwaiti manpower agencies specialising in recruiting maids, Fadil Ashkinani, has quoted in another report as saying that the most important thing was to regulate the recruitment process of maids. “Almost 60 per cent of the problems facing the domestic workforce sector would be resolved if we have a law and a strict regulatory regime that keeps a tight leash on the recruitment process,” he has said.
A meeting of Undersecretaries of GCC Ministries of Labour in January in Manama, Bahrain, agreed to adopt the Gulf unified draft contract for the domestic workers.
Apart from female domestic workers, cleaners, cooks, butlers, drivers and gardeners would also be included in the new regulations.
Some Sri Lankan labour experts said the new regulations were also as a result of pressure from the US pushing for labour reforms under human rights conventions.
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