Domestic recruitment (yes, housemaids for those living a life of less luxury than many here in Arabia!) is not my special topic, but I have just noticed an interesting change to the scene which could have wider consequences to general expatriate hiring across the region.
My view today comes from Starbucks in Kuwait Airport. It’s a great spot and one of the most happening bucks, well worth a visit. A glimpse into Kuwaiti youth pastimes, you wouldn’t believe how many 20-something’s come here to get online and play network games whilst having a latte and a chat.
Anyhow – back to the point. The Ministry of Labor & Employment of the Philippines has passed a law that any person sponsoring domestic workers in Kuwait have to provide life insurance for them. So have the Ethiopian Government – and every body else is expected to follow suit.
According to AbdulAziz Al-Ali who is the Chairman of the Union of Domestic Workers – the policy will only cost $50 a year so it’s hardly providing great coverage, sounds to me as though it’s a basic policy to cover events if a foreign worker sadly dies when overseas. This would seems to make sense as employers are already required to enroll domestic workers in government health programs so that medical care is provided for staff. Also end of service flights to repatriate workers are also a labor requirement.
So whilst it’s quite a morbid or sad story, it’s clearly a good thing to have in place. My interest in the story was that it might easily break out of the ‘domestic worker’ category and into professional expatriate hires. My life policy costs me $800 a year, so the cost to major national employers could be quite a hit.
Going to get mango frappucino..
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