SmartPhones for The Philippines Domestic workers

According to Alqabas, The Philippines embassy is negotiating a smartphone for every domestic worker hired in Kuwait. The sponsor will not deduct the value of the smartphone from the worker’s wage.

Also, the embassy is asking for a background check for the sponsor or the employer. The background check will look into any past labor abuse or conflict. 

Reports are speculating a hot domestic workers market in the coming days due to The Philippines domestic workers ban and Covid-19 travel restriction before Ramadan.

It is worth mentioning that there is a growing concern about domestic workers’ abusive working conditions in the Gulf area, according to multiple reports.

According to Aljazeera, Saudi Arabia amended the Kafala system where the worker doesn’t need his sponsor’s permission to change work or sponsor. The sponsor can’t hold the worker’s passport hostage.

In the UAE, according to Khaleej Times, contracting the Philippine domestic workers will resume in April after it was suspended in 2014. A new agreement comes with at least eight hours of sleep every night, one full day of paid leave every week, keep their passports, cook their own meals, use mobile phones, and they must have a bank account for their salary.