Al Bilad newspaper Recruitment offices warn that increasing the duration of the “domestic worker’s experience” will increase manipulation and destroy the sector – 2024-03-21 05:28:03

The head of the Bahrain Association of Recruitment Agencies, Mona Al-Mulla, warned of the consequences of implementing a proposal presented by members of the Shura Council regarding increasing the period of guarantee for domestic workers “maid experience” from 3 to 6 months, noting that it is a “disastrous and destructive decision for what remains of the travel agency sector.”
Al-Mulla acknowledged the existence of what she described as “networks” for smuggling domestic workers and reemploying them illegally, but she explained that there are many solutions that could eliminate this problem or mitigate its consequences on families.
Al-Mulla called on the Shura Council to sit with the Association of Recruitment Offices to find solutions to the problem of “escape” of domestic workers, which include increasing options in domestic workers’ insurance policies, and opening the activity of a “supply agency” for recruitment offices, which will give them more flexibility in granting higher warranty periods for domestic workers, in addition. To strengthen control over escape cases so that there are deterrent measures.

Long enough

Al-Mulla said that a period of 3 months is considered a very sufficient period to know that the domestic worker has a desire to work and that she is in appropriate health fitness, noting that the existence of a period for returning the domestic worker more than once to the same family raises the question of whether the worker received humane treatment within the home.
Al-Mulla pointed out that there is a misconception among some that a domestic worker must work non-stop and be a maid for all family members, even if they number ten, which causes exhaustion and treatment that may not be humane.
She explained that there are cases in which some families return a worker several times, which raises the question about the fact that more than one worker does not want to work in the same house, and the suitability of the work environment at home in the first place.

Foreign agencies

Al-Mulla explained that foreign supply agencies provide a guarantee against the unwillingness to work or the unsuitability of healthy domestic workers for a period of 3 months, and this is the approved period in the Gulf countries, as these agencies bear the cost of returning domestic workers.
She continued by saying that with the addition of another 3 months, the recruitment offices will in this case bear the costs of returning domestic workers, as the offices do not have the financial solvency, the volume of work, or the financial margin that would enable them to incur this loss.

Open manipulation

She also pointed out that granting a six-month warranty will open the door wide to manipulation and fraud, as anyone will be able to abuse this advantage, such that he will return the domestic worker twice a year or 4 times every two years, and thus the recruitment costs will be almost free and he will only have to pay Government fees estimated at approximately 110 dinars.

Knockdown

She confirmed by saying that if this proposal to increase the warranty period for domestic workers is implemented, this will constitute a fatal blow to the remaining recruitment offices, which now constitute only about 40% of recruitment activity, as 60% of domestic workers in Bahrain, as estimates indicate, are employed. From outside the scope of office activity.
Al-Mulla called for expanding the features and options of insurance packages for domestic workers to include insurance against escape, covering salaries in the event that the sponsor fails to pay wages for several months, providing legal advice to the worker, and covering the expenses of the domestic worker’s departure in the event of death, God forbid, which may reach 3 thousand dinars, to Along with many other features.
She also pointed out that allowing recruitment offices to add a “supply agency” activity, similar to what is happening in the Gulf countries, will give the offices greater flexibility to recruit domestic workers in the name of the office and then make them available to work in the client’s home for longer periods before transferring their residency to be in the name of the homeowner.

Labor flight

Regarding the escape of domestic workers or their abstention from work and leaving the home surreptitiously, especially after 3 months have passed, which is the guarantee period currently provided by the offices, Al-Mulla acknowledged the existence of these cases, especially among workers of African nationalities, indicating that there are what can be described as “networks” that return Operating this workforce in the market and not in licensed offices.
Al-Mulla stated that the recruitment office has no interest in bringing in a runaway domestic worker, as it cannot employ her legally in another home.

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