Domestic workers

HONG KONG – The multi-million dollar domestic worker recruitment business is pushing thousands of women into crippling debt by charging hefty fees for finding jobs, the co-founder of an employment agency said on Tuesday as he called for an overhaul of the industry.

There is a marked increase in the number of physical abuse cases reported to the Mission, from 3.6% of total reported cases in 2013 to 9% in 2014 HONG KONG – The worldwide outrage over the abuse of Indonesian domestic worker Erwiana Sulistyaningsih might have made Hong Kong law enforcers pay closer attention to reports…

Dear PAO, My aunt is working as a household helper. Recently, her family in the province had a problem so she has been in constant communication with them. Since she does not have her own mobile phone, she made use of the landline telephone of her employer. Regrettably, she did not ask permission from her…

MANILA – While attending the 104th International Labor Conference in Geneva, Labor and Employment Secretary Rosalinda Dimapilis-Baldoz received very good news from the Philippines: the deployment of household service workers (HSWs) has declined drastically in the first five months of 2015.

From January to May this year, the Philippines deploys 55,961 domestic workers, lower than the 70,034 in the same months in 2014 MANILA, Philippines – Philippine deployment of household service workers (HSWs) to foreign countries went down by 20% in the past 5 months compared to the same period in 2014.

It is a sad story that is repeated each time a foreign domestic worker steps forward to file a case against her employer HONG KONG – Falling victim to a sexual predator is traumatic enough, but if you’re a foreign domestic helper in Hong Kong, the burden is much graver.

MANILA, Philippines – Two years after the full implementation of the Kasambahay Law, more domestic workers are filing cases to compel their foreign and local employers to pay right wages and benefits, Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz said yesterday.

Dear PAO, I have a household helper whom I want to apply for SSS contributions. My friend told me that I really have to apply for this because there is now a Kasambahay Law. If the salary of my helper is P3,700 per month, how much do I have to pay as her contributions? Red

SINGAPORE – The promise of a salary five times what she could make at home prompted Nabila to leave Indonesia and her family for a job as a domestic worker in Singapore.

From the Department of Labor and Employment Policies for household service workers (HSWs) is to be strictly enforced to further protect the rights and promote the welfare of OFWs in Lebanon.

Why do many people still not get this? Mary Jane Veloso got screwed on her way to work. She left home and kin to search for work and ended up in a foreign jail where she now awaits another life-or-death verdict for allegedly smuggling illegal drugs.

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) says ‘the presence of [Filipino] domestic workers in household all over the world could be considered a liberating force’

The mega-recruiter can act as the employer of domestic workers, instead of the households that employ them and, as visa sponsors, often oppress them

MANILA, Philippines — A Filipina won a Canadian $55,000 (almost P2 million) award from the human rights tribunal of British Columbia, which found she had been held as a “virtual slave” and subjected to sexual assault and other abuses by members of the Hong Kong family that had hired her as a nanny.

No matter how this administration tries to spin it, there’s no denying that the country’s economic growth is driven by the precious dollar remittances sent in by the millions of overseas Filipino workers deployed all over the world. Data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas show that OFW remittances increased 5.8 percent to $24.3 billion…

To discourage the abuse of household helpers in Saudi Arabia, the Kingdom’s labor ministry is cooking up a shame campaign that places abusive employers and recruitment offices in a black list.

Around one quarter of foreign domestic workers surveyed have poor mental health: HOME – Less than half are given weekly days off More than 2 out of every 10 foreign domestic workers (24%) who were surveyed in a new research by the Humanitarian Organisation for Migration Economics (HOME) suffer from poor mental health. This is…

The survey, involving domestic workers from the Philippines, Myanmar and Indonesia, is to assess these workers’ mental well-being by getting their views on the living and working conditions in Singapore.

There are up to 100 million domestic workers worldwide Many are women who’ve left families to earn extra money in other countries. Commonly referred to as “helpers,” they help prop up economies abroad and at home Hong Kong (CNN)After too many episodes of British period drama Downton Abbey, viewers could be forgiven for thinking that modern-day…

Improved protection of Filipino domestic workers was among the issues discussed by Qatar and Philippine officials during a meeting, said a Philippine official.

A black market is emerging for Filipina household helpers in the United Arab Emirates with prospective employers being made to pay up to $4,600 (Dh17,000) for a helper, a UAE news site reported over the weekend.

From the Department of Labor and Employment SSS-registered kasambahay now 105,000; DOLE-led convergence drafts protocol on rescue and rehabilitation of abused kasambahay

The Philippine labor chief says the nature of the job of household service workers (HSWs) in the UAE give them ‘a very high exposure to exploitation’ DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – High-level talks are underway between the Philippines and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to conclusively address issues affecting approximately 100,000 Filipino household service workers…

Filipino women wanting to work as household helpers in the United Arab Emirates may benefit from a prospective resolution that will allow their deployment there, a UAE news site reported Sunday.

The brutal murders of two Indonesian women in Hong Kong at the start of November made sensational headlines, but less noticed are the sometimes brutal debt burdens that chain migrant workers to low-paying and sometimes dangerous jobs, including sex work.

The Gulf state’s physical abuse and slave-like treatment of migrant workers is making headlines again, as the UN starts its own investigation, following an official complaint at the international level, which detailed an “alarming frequency” of cases.

Still, the New York-based Human Rights Watch says a standardized contract is no substitute for labor law protection and institutional reforms MANILA, Philippines – Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz is hopeful that a new template contract for migrant domestic workers that sets basic labor standards in the Gulf region will “end soon the days of abuse…

Gulf labor ministers Tuesday agreed on minimum terms in the contracts of domestic staff to improve the widely criticized working conditions of over 2.4 million foreign maids, an official said.

Labor Minister Abdullah Saleh Al Khulaifi says his country needs more skilled manpower from the Philippines, given Qatar’s expanding economy MANILA, Philippines – The labor chief of Qatar assured the Philippines on Sunday, November 23, that amendments to his country’s labor law that could benefit overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) are slated to pass before 2015.

Ninety rights and labour groups renew call for “urgent action” to protect migrant workers in the Gulf states. A collective of major international rights and labour groups have launched a fresh call for urgent action to protect migrant workers from abuse in Gulf Arab countries.