DOLE exec: PHL to sign agreement with Saudi for deployment of household workers
Philippine Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Undersecretary Danilo Cruz said Filipino household service workers (HSWs) may again be deployed to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA).
At a media briefing on Tuesday, Cruz said the reopening of the KSA market will begin as soon as the DOLE and the Saudi Arabia Embassy sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU).
“We will immediately sign an mou agree on a model employment contract that will be implemented in Saudi Arabia,” he said.
Cruz expressed confidence that the KSA government would lift the restriction it imposed last year on Filipino domestic workers.
In July 2010, the Saudi government affirmed its March 12, 2010 decision to suspend the processing, verification and authentication of contracts of Filipino HSWs.
The decision was supposedly spurred by the minimum wage required by the Philippine government, which was a $400 a month salary for HSWs.
“From all indications, Saudi Arabia will allow now the verification of the employment contract of household workers which will automatically lift the restriction na inimpose nila and we can soon deploy household service workers (HSWs) there,” Cruz said.
Meanwhile, Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz said Filipino workers will be protected in the new contract.
“We saw to it that the provisions or the rights and principles in the …convention are also reflected on the standard employment contract,” she said. - VVP, GMA News