New deployment of household service workers (HSWs) from the Philippines to the UAE will have to wait until the issues on policies between the two countries will be resolved
In a report from newspaper Khaleejtimes:
Philippine labour attaché in Dubai Delmer Cruz hopes to break the deadlock soon. He said: "I am hopeful that the issue will be resolved soon but we (UAE and Philippine governments) are still in the negotiation phase, and like in any other negotiations, we don't know exactly when this will be concluded."
Hiring of Filipino domestic workers has been put on hold since June 2014 when the Philippine Overseas Labour Office in the UAE suspended their consular role in verifying and attesting contracts when the Ministry of Interior introduced a unified contract for domestic workers.
The Philippine government asserted that it is mandated to verify the contracts to protect their workers. The Philippine government also wants the setting of a minimum wage for Filipino domestic workers at $400 (Dh1,468), while UAE does not have a set minimum wage. It also demands that HSWs should be at least 23 years old and they get a weekly off, and salaries must be deposited in a bank and HSWs should not be required to pay placement fees to recruiters.
"The next round of talks is set in the first quarter of 2016 but there is no specific date yet for the meeting." Cruz said. "In Saudi Arabia, there was no minimum wage but we were able to reach a common ground after we had an agreement with the Saudi government that the Philippine labour office will not ... deploy a new maid if the salary is less than $400.
Cruz also believed that having a solution on the issue "will help mitigate the cases of runaways".
Source: Khaleej Times
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In a report from newspaper Khaleejtimes:
Philippine labour attaché in Dubai Delmer Cruz hopes to break the deadlock soon. He said: "I am hopeful that the issue will be resolved soon but we (UAE and Philippine governments) are still in the negotiation phase, and like in any other negotiations, we don't know exactly when this will be concluded."
Hiring of Filipino domestic workers has been put on hold since June 2014 when the Philippine Overseas Labour Office in the UAE suspended their consular role in verifying and attesting contracts when the Ministry of Interior introduced a unified contract for domestic workers.
The Philippine government asserted that it is mandated to verify the contracts to protect their workers. The Philippine government also wants the setting of a minimum wage for Filipino domestic workers at $400 (Dh1,468), while UAE does not have a set minimum wage. It also demands that HSWs should be at least 23 years old and they get a weekly off, and salaries must be deposited in a bank and HSWs should not be required to pay placement fees to recruiters.
"The next round of talks is set in the first quarter of 2016 but there is no specific date yet for the meeting." Cruz said. "In Saudi Arabia, there was no minimum wage but we were able to reach a common ground after we had an agreement with the Saudi government that the Philippine labour office will not ... deploy a new maid if the salary is less than $400.
Cruz also believed that having a solution on the issue "will help mitigate the cases of runaways".
Source: Khaleej Times
