Housemaids Employed Before Dec. 15 Won't Be Allowed to Return After Vacation Unless Their Employers Sign New Contract

Sunday, 21 January 2007

RIYADH: Filipina housemaids employed before Dec. 15 will not be allowed to return to their employers after their vacation unless they sign a new contract with $400 monthly salary, an official of the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) at the Philippine Embassy in Riyadh said Saturday.

"Extending the mandatory monthly pay of $400 to all domestic helpers is now enforced and will be implemented without exception," the official said. He said the new contract has already been furnished to all local recruiting agencies. So far, the POLO has not received any new contract with $400 pay for authentication and approval, he said.

The official said housemaids who protested in Manila against the wage hike are misinformed. "It is for their benefit that the new wage rate is being implemented. Deployment of a housemaid will be sanctioned only if the salary is $400 or above," he stressed.

At least 1,000 Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) picketed the office of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) in Manila last week to protest against the new government policy which requires foreign employers to pay Filipina maids a minimum of $400 a month.

The OFWs complained that some foreign maids accept salaries as low as $150 a month and that nobody will hire Filipino maids for a salary of $400.

Alfredo Palmiery, chairman of the Federated Association of Manpower Exporters, said at least 50,000 Filipino domestic helpers cannot find employment abroad because of the new hiring policy of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) that requires employers to pay OFWs wages not less than $400 a month.

In Zamboanga City, some 500 OFWs and representatives of recruitment agencies staged a rally outside the POEA regional office to demand the scrapping of the salary measure.

The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) has ruled that effective Dec. 15 2006, the salary of Filipina housemaids will be not less than $400 per month.

In addition to the $400 month pay, employers will be required to accomplish or submit the following:

  • Personal appearance of the employer or employers before the POEA or its representative overseas (in this case before the representative of POLO).

  • Contract of employment with the signatures of the employer, the worker, the Saudi agent, and the Philippine agent.

  • Income of the sponsor or employer with supporting documentation, including a certification from the company where he is employed.

  • Name of the employer, the wife, children, other occupants of the house, other household helps, and their respective ages of all.

  • Clearance from the police where the employer or sponsor resides.

  • A certification of good moral character issued by the local district head (Umdah).

  • Certified copy of the identification card of the sponsor or employer.

  • Valid visa for the housemaid.

  • Completion of a written undertaken issued by the POEA and to be filed up by the employer.

  • Address and sketch of the location of the house and its size in square meters.

The POLO official said the requirement that photos of the family of the sponsors be submitted is not being implemented yet pending a thorough study. "We are aware of the sensitivity of such a requirement and therefore we are awaiting the decision from Manila," he said.

He said the Philippine Department of Labor, through the POLO, will strictly enforce and implement the above requirements regarding the hiring and deployment of Filipina domestic workers.

"We want to protect our women workers, provide them with decent salary, and keep an accurate data so that we could track them if they will need the help or intervention from their government," he said.

By Joe Avancena

© The Saudi Gazette 2007