THE Private Recruitment Agencies (PRA) are ready to mobilize 30,000 Household Service Workers (HSW) for the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
This is in accordance with the new labor accord signed by the Philippines and UAE last March 2, 2021. The Philippines was represented by Labor Undersecretary Claro Arellano, while the UAE sent Saif Ahmed Alsuwaidi, the undersecretary of Human Resources.
The mobilization of the HSWs will be led by the president of the Philippine Association of Manpower Agencies to UAE, Madolyn Uanang.
She is now coordinating with the new labor agency called Tadbeer, set up by the UAE to handle the recruitment of HSWs.
The new labor accord will give the HSW an opportunity to get employed “in view of the very low deployment of HSWs to the Middle East,” said recruitment consultant Manny Geslani.
However, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait domestic markets remain closed due to travel restrictions and each country’s Covid-19 rules related to the arrival of new workers.
As agreed upon by both countries, they aim to stop the trafficking of workers to UAE with the illegal use of tourist visas facilitated by dishonest recruitment syndicates.
Under the agreement, domestic workers will get a monthly salary of 1,500 dirhams or the equivalent of $420 (P21,000) without placement fees collected by the local agencies.
“There will be no salary deduction, and the cost of medical examinations, visa fees and local accommodation will be shouldered by the local recruitment agency,” Geslani said.
He estimates that over 150,000 Filipino domestic helpers have been trafficked to Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan by syndicates since 2003 up to 2020, “with the majority of the women arriving in Lebanon after the Lebanon-Israeli war of 2006.”
Tadbeer will now handle the entry of all expatriate women domestic helpers into Dubai, Geslani said.
Uanang welcomed this development, saying the Philippines has not deployed HSW to Dubai since 2014, when both the Philippines and the UAE had several disagreements on provisions of the unified employment contract.
The new employment contract is similar to the employment contracts forged by the Philippines with Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, where Filipino domestic helpers are granted the following rights:
– the right to at least eight continuous hours of sleep every night;
– the right to receive a paid break outside the residence of the employer at least one full day every week;
– the right to keep his/her passport or identification documents; the employer is not allowed to hold them.
Among other agreements are:
– the employer shall allow the domestic worker to have and use cellular phones and other communication devices and the employer is prohibited from confiscating them;
– opening of bank account under the name of the domestic worker for payment of salary; and
– allowing the domestic workers to cook her or his own food.