Saudi Arabia introduces programme to safeguard domestic workers' earnings

Starting on July 1, the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development will offer a Wage Protection Service to domestic workers. This is reported by Arab News.

Domestic workers are those who work in or for a private family or household. They are important players in the care economy since they offer both direct and indirect care services. They may be responsible for housekeeping, cooking, laundry, ironing, gardening, watching after young children or ailing family members, driving the family vehicle, taking care of domestic pets, and defending the house.

A domestic worker can be hired full-time, part-time, by a single household, through a service provider, or both. They can live in the employer's home as a live-in worker or in their own home as a live-out.

This Wage Protection Service is a component of the Ministry's plans to advance the domestic labour market and protect the legal rights of both employers and domestic employees.

The service's goal is to make salary payments using digital wallets and banks approved by the Musaned platform easier and more transparent. The parties to the contract will have their rights upheld as a result of the new measures, which will improve the security and dependability of the wage transfer.

Depending on the number of domestic workers at each employer, the ministry stated that the service will be introduced gradually to current contracts as well as to domestic workers under new contracts.

According to the source, the service will also be available to those who have more than four domestic workers as of January 1, 2025; people who have three or more domestic workers as of July 1, 2025; and people who have two or more domestic workers as of July 1, 2025.

The employer benefits from paying domestic workers through specific formal channels in several ways, including confirmation of wages paid for domestic work, ease of terminating procedures at the end of a contractual relationship or while travelling, and dispute protection for both the employer and the employee.

Photo: iStock