Saudi to lift hiring ban on Filipino maids

A maid carries a folding chair for waiting Saudi women along the sea front in the Red Sea coastal city of Jeddah. AFP File Photo

Saudi Arabia is expected to lift within the month the suspension it imposed last year on the hiring of Filipino maids by the Middle East kingdom, a labor official said Tuesday.

Labor Undersecretary Danilo Cruz said the two countries would soon sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on the deployment of Filipino maids that would pave the way for the return of Filipino household service workers (HSWs) to the oil-rich kingdom.

The MOU concerns a model employment contract that will be implemented in Saudi Arabia, Cruz told a press conference Tuesday.

He said the breakthrough resulted from a meeting in Manila last week of a technical working group consisting of  representatives from the Philippine labor department and the Saudi Embassy in Manila.

The Saudis suspended last March the processing of employment contracts for Filipino maids after complaining about Philippine government rules requiring a minimum wage of $400 and a minimum age of 23 years for HSWs.

They also complained about the Philippine requirement that Saudi employers submit a sketch of their homes and disclose their annual income.

Originally posted at 07:43 pm | Tuesday, January 10, 2012