No agreement yet on hiring Filipino domestic workers

The Philippine labour attaché in Dubai is hopeful that conflicting policies between the UAE and the Philippines on the deployment of household service workers (HSWs) to the country will be resolved soon.
Speaking to Khaleej Times, Delmer Cruz said: "I am hopeful that the issue will be resolved soon but we (UAE and Philippine governments) are still in the negotiation phase, and like in any other negotiations, we don't know exactly when this will be concluded."
Cruz said the visit to the country last week by Philippines Vice-President Jejomar Binay and his meeting with the UAE Minister of Labour, Saqr Ghobash Saeed Ghobash, added "an extra push" to resolve the issue.
UAE residents have not been able to hire Filipino domestic workers legally since June 2014. This issue arose when the Ministry of Interior introduced a unified contract for domestic workers that led to the suspension of consular role in verifying and attesting contracts.
The Philippine government insisted that it is mandated to verify the contracts to protect their workers. Another major point of contention is the Philippine government's setting of a minimum wage for Filipino domestic workers at $400 (Dh1,468), while UAE does not have a set minimum wage.
Other conditions include: Ensuring HSWs should be at least 23 years old and they get a weekly off. Their salary must be deposited in a bank and they should not be required to pay placement fees to recruiters.
A meeting was held November last year between officials of the Ministry of Labour and the Philippine contingent composed of Cruz; Ophelia Almenario, Philippine labour attaché in Abu Dhabi; Hans Cacdac, Philippine overseas employment administration head; and Ciriaco Lagunsad III, Philippine labour undersecretary.
Cruz said: "We agreed on certain points but there was no final agreement ... and we had to go back and consult with our principals on certain issues for guidance and instructions.
"The next round of talks is set in the first quarter of 2016 but there is no specific date yet for the meeting."
Cruz noted that there is a model that can be followed in finding a solution to this labour fix.
He explained: "In Saudi Arabia, there was no minimum wage but we were able to reach a common ground after we had an agreement with the Saudi government that the Philippine labour office will not ... deploy a new maid if the salary is less than $400.
"We are looking at the Saudi model which can be applied here."
He also believed that finding a solution on the issue of deployment of domestic workers "will help mitigate the cases of runaways". On an average, around 30 Filipina maids stay at the shelter house hosted by the Philippine Overseas Labour Office-Overseas Workers Welfare Administration in Dubai daily.
These are runaway maids, and Cruz noted that 65 per cent of them arrived in the UAE on a tourist or visit visa, which made them vulnerable to abuse.
angel@khaleejtimes.com

Main points of  contention