In light of the persistence domestic labor crisis as a result of the dispute between the Ministry of Commerce and the offices over fixing recruitment prices, an expert source in domestic labor affairs put forward 3 solutions to end the crisis quickly and with minimal damage.
The source told a local Arabic daily that solving problems and differences in a way that satisfies all parties is through three methods:
1 – Re-opening the licenses of recruitment offices as they were in the past, so that the office can employ the worker in another house in the event of her refusal to work with her sponsor and not return her to her country
2 – Working to open the way for the recruitment of labor from several countries and not to rely solely on the Philippines
3 – The necessity for members of the Federation of Labor Recruitment Offices to actively search for alternative markets on the African continent.
For his part, a specialist in domestic labor affairs, Bassam Al-Shammari, confirmed that the decision to determine the costs of recruitment was issued in February 2021 during the “Corona” pandemic, and set it at 890 dinars for companies and offices, including the costs of tickets and medical examinations to be borne by the employer, while setting the price at 390 dinars in the event the employer submits to the office the worker’s passport copy inclusive of ticket does not balance the equation.
He added that companies and offices started recruiting on this basis, “but the total cost is not less than 1,400 dinars for the recruited workers, in addition to the costs of institutional quarantine.”
He said that “after the Cabinet canceled the institutional quarantine, whose cost is estimated at 230 dinars, the Ministry of Commerce sent on February 19, 2020, a letter based on an inquiry from the Public Authority for Manpower, the content of which was in violation of what was done in the past, and offices and companies charged the costs of tickets and medical examinations.
This caused the importing companies to suffer financial losses due to their inability to fulfill the obligations.”
Al-Shammari added: “The decision violated the agreements concluded with the exporting countries, as well as Law No. 68 of 2015 regarding the recruitment of domestic workers, especially in the part of direct recruitment estimated at 390 dinars, which forces you to violate local and international laws, and exposes the recruiting companies to the risk of trafficking in humans, especially in agreements with the Philippines.