India and Saudi Arabia have signed an agreement on Labour Cooperation for Domestic Service Workers Recruitment. The agreement was signed in New Delhi on 02.01.2014 by Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs Sh. Vayalar Ravi and Minister for Labour of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Mr. Adel Bin Mohammed Fakeih.
Salient Features of the Agreement are:
- It aims to protect the right of both the employers and domestic service workers and regulate the contractual relation between them.
- It endeavors to control recruitment costs in both countries.
- It ensures recruitment of domestic sector workers directly or through registered recruitment agencies.
- It ensures authenticity and implementation of employment contract between the employer and the domestic workers.
- It ensures legal measures against recruitment agencies in violation of the laws of either country.
- It ensures that recruitment agencies and the employer shall not charge or deduct from the salary of the domestic worker any cost attendant to his/ her recruitment and deployment.
- It ensures that recruitment agencies and the employer do not impose any kind of unauthorized salary deduction.
- It works towards fostering a harmonious relationship between the employer and the domestic workers.
- It facilitates the opening by the employer of a bank account under the name of the domestic sector workers.
- It endeavors to establish a mechanism to provide 24 hours assistance to the domestic sector workers.
- It facilitates the issuance of exit visas for the repatriation of domestic sector workers upon contract completion or in any emergency situation or as the need arises.
- A standard employment contract would be finalized that would provide minimum wage, working hours, paid holidays and dispute settlement mechanism.
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