The Sri Lankan government has defined four factors to organize the recruitment of domestic workers to the Kingdom.
These factors are related to stopping the sending of workers to recruitment offices and limiting them to specialized companies; committing companies to the unified contract; establishing training centers for workers to guarantee the rights of all parties; and providing all necessary measures to take care of its citizens outside the country.
A source at the Sri Lankan Consulate General in Jeddah said his government aims to organize the recruitment of domestic workers and increase the number of workers in the Kingdom to 500,000 during the coming years by limiting recruitment to specialized companies.
He added that the government will stop sending domestic workers to offices during the first quarter of 2017, saying articles of the contract define the work period at 10 hours, and extend weekly holidays to two days, in addition to raising the monthly wages to $400. He pointed out that regular domestic workers who are still working can continue with their work and renew their contracts if they end according to the agreement of the two parties; the contract should be approved by the Embassy in Riyadh or the Sri Lankan Consulate General in Jeddah.
Mohammad Al-Hazimi, the owner of a recruitment office, said limiting recruitment from Sri Lanka to companies contributes to organizing recruitment, in addition to limiting the work of brokers, especially since the Sri Lankan government will commit these companies to the unified contract to guarantee the rights of all parties; this will increase the number of qualified domestic workers in the Kingdom, he added.
Hussein Al-Harithi, another owner of a recruitment office, said limiting recruitment to companies will contribute to increasing the prices of recruitment, in addition to raising wages to more than SR1,500 a month. He pointed out that the average cost of current recruitment reaches SR27,000, while monthly salaries stand at SR1,125 a month.
(Arab News)
