The government, in coordination with the Public Authority for Manpower (PAM), the ministries of interior, foreign affairs and other concerned government entities, has drawn up a new contract for all household workers in Kuwait, which is expected to go into effect this week.
The contract, officially referred to as the ‘Tripartite Model or Unified Contract’, will be applicable to the recruitment of domestic helpers of all nationalities, and is said to address the concerns of all stakeholders, including the employee, the employer, and the government, as well as domestic recruitment offices.
Copies of the contract are being sent to relevant parties such as domestic recruitment offices prior to its publication. The ‘Tripartite Model’ contract will oblige the employer to provide suitable housing with adequate means of living for the third party (the domestic worker), including food clothing and proper treatment, as well as medical care and registration in the ‘health insurance system’. The employer will also be obligated to pay wages at the end of each month, which should not be less than the minimum stipulated in the contract, and should be acknowledged by a receipt duly signed by the worker.
The new contract also underlines that the worker should not be made to work for more than 12 hours per day, with five hours of work followed by not less than an hour of rest, and a night break of eight consecutive hours, at least one day off per week and a paid annual vacation.
The contract also entitles the worker to an indemnity at the end of the contract period equivalent to a month’s wage for each year of service. The employer is also forbidden to keep the employee’s passport, ID or other personal documents. The employee’s residency cannot be transferred during the initial period of contract, and all disputes arising between the employee and employer is to be settled through the relevant department at PAM. The terms of the contract are binding not only on the employer, but also on all family members.
Meanwhile, there have been reports that some domestic recruitment offices have increased the recruitment cost of workers from the previous KD990 to KD1,200. This follows a stipulation in the new contract that obliges the recruitment office to return the worker to their home country, in the event of the worker refusing to work for the same sponsor during the initial contract period.
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