Saudi Arabia’s Labor Ministry has urged anyone employing domestic workers to issue them with payroll or salary cards as soon as they arrive in the Kingdom.
According to Arab News, the Ministry of Labor and Social Development’s new wage protection system is aimed at protecting the rights of both employers and domestic workers. It is also intended to improve working conditions and boost the job security of domestic staff.
To apply for a prepaid payroll card, employers or sponsors are required to register at a bank. Via Musaned, they then create an electronic recruitment contract and specify the employee’s monthly wage, before saving it online and printing a copy off.
Ministry spokesman Khalid Aba Al-Khail said: “The ministry’s wage protection system aims to protect the rights of all parties in the contractual relationship — both the employers and domestic workers — and electronically document employment contracts for these workers. By issuing prepaid payroll cards, workers’ wages will be transferred to their bank accounts, which will guarantee the protection of their wages.”
Aba Al-Khail said the wage protection system, which covers all types of domestic workers, will gradually be enforced. As a result, people already employing domestic workers inside the Kingdom will be required to support it within six months.
Aba Al-Khail also called on recruitment agencies and firms to raise awareness of the rights and obligations of both domestic workers and their employers.
A Musaned smartphone app has likewise been released to make compliance easier.
Gill Oliver is a business and property journalist who has written for The Daily Mail/Mail Online's This is Money, The Press Association and many national and regional newspapers and magazines.
Saudi Arabia’s Labor Ministry has urged anyone employing domestic workers to issue them with payroll or salary cards as soon as they arrive in the Kingdom.
According to Arab News, the Ministry of Labor and Social Development’s new wage protection system is aimed at protecting the rights of both employers and domestic workers. It is also intended to improve working conditions and boost the job security of domestic staff.
To apply for a prepaid payroll card, employers or sponsors are required to register at a bank. Via Musaned, they then create an electronic recruitment contract and specify the employee’s monthly wage, before saving it online and printing a copy off.
Ministry spokesman Khalid Aba Al-Khail said: “The ministry’s wage protection system aims to protect the rights of all parties in the contractual relationship — both the employers and domestic workers — and electronically document employment contracts for these workers. By issuing prepaid payroll cards, workers’ wages will be transferred to their bank accounts, which will guarantee the protection of their wages.”
Aba Al-Khail said the wage protection system, which covers all types of domestic workers, will gradually be enforced. As a result, people already employing domestic workers inside the Kingdom will be required to support it within six months.
Aba Al-Khail also called on recruitment agencies and firms to raise awareness of the rights and obligations of both domestic workers and their employers.
A Musaned smartphone app has likewise been released to make compliance easier.
Gill Oliver is a business and property journalist who has written for The Daily Mail/Mail Online's This is Money, The Press Association and many national and regional newspapers and magazines.
