According to latest regulation (Decision No.22/2022) pertaining to domestic workers, regarding Law No.68/2015, certain amendments have been made to some articles of the old regulations, effective 15th May 2022.
The Public Authority for Manpower (PAM) approved the new regulation, which included conditions for transfer of domestic worker from one employer to another, in the event of death of an employer, or in case of divorce of couples, or losing eligibility conditions for employer, proof of committing an act, statement or gesture with a sexual connotation etc.
One of the conditions that needs to be met to issue licenses for offices if they are practising the profession of recruiting domestic worker from abroad, is to submit an unconditional, irrevocable letter of financial guarantee, valid for full payment, in his name for the benefit of authority, from a local bank an amount of KD40,000 for offices and institutions, and 100,000 dinars for companies.
The new regulation prevents deducting any amount from the worker’s dues in any case, which preserves his/her rights and obligates the employer to feed the domestic help, clothe him/her, and offer treatment if necessary.
The minimum wage for domestic worker has been increased to KD75 per month. Article 31 says that employer who makes late payment of wages to domestic worker, will have to pay KD10 every month, apart from wages due.
It also includes issuing office licenses, starting with submission of letter of guarantee of KD40,000 in case the company opens branches for each branch, with a two years validity from date of submission of the application, and it needs renewal every two months prior to expiry date of application.
An annual leave of not less than 30 days with pay will be given, upon spending 11 months at work, apart from weekly leave of 24 consecutive hours after every six work days. Overtime hours should not exceed two hours a day, and half-day wage for overtime work.
