Overseas Filipino workers in Saudi Arabia may finally benefit from better working conditions provided in a labor pact signed by the Philippines and Saudi Arabia last year, after the Saudi Cabinet gave the agreement its nod this week.
The Saudi Cabinet approved the accord on Monday, Nov. 3, Saudi news site Arab News reported late Wednesday.
Under the agreement, workers receive a minimum monthly salary of SR1,500, their own bank accounts, weekly rest days and daily rest periods.
They will also get a paid vacation leave, non-withholding of passports and work permits, free communication and humane treatment.
Covered by the agreement are housemaids, babysitters, laundrywomen, family drivers, cooks and gardeners.
Arab News noted the pact was signed as early as May 2013 between Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz and Saudi Deputy Labor Minister Mufarrej bin Saad Al-Haqbani.
Ban lifting?
The Arab News report said the Cabinet’s approval could clear the path for the lifting of a ban on recruitment of Filipino domestic workers for the Saudi market.
It added the pact came more than a year after the Kingdom froze the recruitment of domestic workers amid complaints from the Philippines of abuses against domestic workers by Saudi families. —Joel Locsin/KBK, GMA News
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