MANILA, 6 March 2008 — Saudi Arabia’s powerful organization of job recruiters has accepted the Philippines’ new rules on household service workers (HSWs), including the setting of a $400 monthly minimum wage from $200, Labor Secretary Arturo D. Brion said yesterday.
In a statement posted in the Department of Labor and Employment’s website, Brion said that the Saudi National Recruitment Committee (Sanarcom) indicated its acceptance of the new policy last month through the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) in Riyadh.
He said Sanarcom “eventually gave its nod to the HSW policy” when Labor Attaché Rustico dela Fuente, head of the POLO in Riyadh, issued the certificate of prequalification to the recruitment agency of Sanarcom Chairman Saad N. Al Baddah.
Brion said the change of heart was significant considering that Sanarcom was among those initially opposed to the HSW policy in the Gulf region. Philippine manpower agencies were also opposed.
The controversial policy issued by the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) in December 2006 also removed from the HSWs the payment of placement fee, and required employers to provide certain documents if they want to hire Filipino HSWs.
The other components of the package include setting the minimum age for hiring of HSWs at 25, and providing training and requiring an assessment certificate for the worker.
A new term, an HSW is meant to cover not just domestic helpers but any Filipino worker hired for household-related work, including gardeners, caregivers, live-in cooks, dressmakers and babysitters.
Brion said the package will benefit both employer and worker — Saudi employers are assured of getting properly trained workers, while the HSW is assured of better training, pay and protection -— minimizing the causes of disagreement between them.
