I truly respect the Ministry of Labor’s decision banning citizens who are found to abuse maids and drivers from employing domestic workers. I just wish the ministry would identify the types of abuse such workers suffer so that others can learn and realize that maids and drivers are human beings with rights as well as needs.
I also wish that the ministry would introduce similar rules that support Saudis in cases where they suffer financial loss or any other harm by the misbehavior of employees and other agencies.
For example, when a maidservant or driver runs away from a household, no one reimburses the employer for the financial losses incurred. In most cases, the person is required to give the employee a travel ticket after working for sometime or in different locations. There are many problems associated with drivers. Sometimes the police arrest them after car accidents, which often lead to paying financial expenses for damages. The running away of employees is a growing and serious problem; sometimes employees plan to leave employers in agreement with recruitment agencies. Rules and regulations need to be in place that punish perpetrators of such misdeeds. The recruitment process has to be organized by all parties involved and that’s either the employer or the employment office.
We need to protect the rights of domestic employees; especially because some people abuse them by not paying them, overworking them day and night, physically attacking them and forcing them to work in different homes in a single day and to collect salaries from different sources. Some people want servants to multi-role simultaneously as nannies, cooks and maids. I imagine such people are in the minority because in general Saudis by nature are soft and kind.
Problems with employment are increasing and solutions are not forthcoming. There is a necessity to protect different involved parties especially the citizen who spends an average of SR7,000 to SR8,000 to recruit a domestic servant or driver, an amount that is almost double the salary of a middle class Saudi. So when a maidservant runs away people suffer financially.
I assume the implementation of a fingerprint system has become compulsory for the safety of all. This is especially the case since many maids are forced to leave the Kingdom because of acts of crime, immorality and even jeopardizing children’s safety.
I believe that it is every citizen’s right to protect himself and his wealth, which are being wasted in the employment of such people. However, the system is still lenient because agencies inside and outside Saudi Arabia are still able to manipulate people. How can an employee return to the Kingdom after being forced out because of criminal convictions, immoral behavior and child abuse?
Saudi citizens must be protected from cracks in the system so they don’t continue recruiting more maids each year because the last one ran away and others rebelled after arriving only three months ago. Agencies that help employees escape should also be penalized.
Employees charged with crimes and abuse must not return to work in the Kingdom even if they manage to acquire new passports. A fingerprint system would be a solution to identify and ban such workers from entering the Kingdom. There is a need to protect citizens from such recruitment agencies and employees who are becoming professionals at breaking the law rather than experts in fulfilling their duties.
