09 Feb 2017 

The State Cabinet yesterday approved a draft law on domestic helps, which specifies the rights and duties of domestic workers as well as their sponsors.

The draft law defines household works as services a domestic helper does for the sponsor or those living with the sponsor at family houses, in line with the contract and established norms.

The draft law defines the sponsor as a natural person for whom a domestic helper works and the domestic helper as a natural person who carries out household works under the management and supervision of the sponsor in return for a wage in line with the contract and established norm. Domestic helpers include drivers, nannies, cooks, gardeners and their equivalents.

According to the provisions of the bill, the law applies to sponsors and domestic helpers, specifies their rights and duties and regulates the relationship between them.

The proposed law is expected to regulate various aspects related to domestic helps including their rights and liabilities, recruitment process, contract and the matter of transferring salaries to their accounts, Al Sharq reports.

It is also expected to specify the duty hours of domestic helps, weekly off and annual vacations. It would also regulate hiring of housemaids and other domestic helps through manpower agencies operating in the country.

The proposed law would make a mechanism of work relation between domestic helps and their employers to safeguard the rights of both parties in case of any dispute.

© The Peninsula 2017