Philippines, Saudi Arabia sign pact giving Filipino household workers higher pay.

By Tarra Quismundo, Fat Reyes, INQUIRER.net, Philippine Daily Inquirer
October 5, 2012

MANILA, Philippines—The Philippines and Saudi Arabia have agreed to implement a “pioneering” standard employment contract for newly hired Filipino domestic workers in the Middle Eastern country, a document that would provide for higher compensation, better working conditions and benefits for household workers, officials said on Thursday.

This as Saudi Arabia, one of the largest receiving countries for Filipino domestics, resumed the employment of household service workers (HSWs) after a more than yearlong ban.

Early last year, the Saudi Arabian government stopped processing, verifying, and authenticating applications from the country’s domestic workers following disagreements in wages. The Philippines wanted the domestic workers to get a minimum monthly salary of $400 but Saudi Arabia found it too high, saying the average was only $200.

In a press conference on Thursday, Vice President Jejomar Binay said the new contract, which he helped negotiate for roughly a year, could serve as a model that Philippine labor authorities might pursue with other countries that have been receiving overseas Filipino workers.

“Hopefully, this will be a model for other countries to adopt. Through this contract, we hope our workers will be treated with respect and dignity,” said Binay.

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