Housemaid New Rules in Saudi Arabia

15-year jail terms for maid traffickers

The labor and interior ministries have again warned that those trafficking in housemaids will be imprisoned for a maximum of 15 years or SR1 million or both, according to a local media report on Monday.

The ministries stated that violators would be named and shamed, which means having their identities made public on all media platforms in the country, including their punishment. 

All those involved in the illegal hiring of housemaids would be penalized including brokers and those knowingly employing them. They said that all recruitment must be made through the Musaned website.

The Labor Ministry said earlier this year that there would be strict monitoring of all agreements signed with countries sending workers to the Kingdom. All recruiters would have to register on the Musaned site, which is linked to countries abroad, including the Kingdom’s embassies.

It also warned that there would be continuous and unannounced raids on offices involved in recruiting workers, and that citizens and expatriates should not deal with unauthorized offices. Members of the public can check whether an operator is licensed by logging on to the Musaned website.

If they encounter any problems, they can file complaints on musaned.gov.sa, the customer service line 19911, or through the branches of the labor ministry across the country. All complaints would be investigated and violators held accountable, the ministry stated.

Source : http://www.arabnews.com/

15-year jail, SR1m fine for trading in services of maids

 The Ministry of Labor and the Public Security authorities have warned of stringent penal action against those involved in trading in the services of runaway maids.

Such violations will amount to human trafficking and the perpetrators will get up to 15-year jail term or SR1 million in fine or both, they said.

The warning came in the wake of ads appearing in various media outlets, especially in social media, offering the services of illegal domestic workers.

“Smuggling of domestic workers with the intention of exploitation or intimidation will amount to human trafficking.

“The trader, broker, employer, and all those associated with them will face penalties in line with the provisions of the law to combat crimes of human trafficking,” the ministry sources said.

Several people, involved in trading in the services of of domestic workers, who violated the labor and residency rules, were arrested during raids after they published ads about their services in the media.

They have been transferred to the Bureau of Investigation and Public Prosecution to complete the investigation process and then referred to judiciary for taking penal action against them.

The ministry urged the citizens not be misled by the ads appearing in the media to get housemaids in an illegal way.

Recruitment firms have to publish wages of domestic workers on the ministry’s Musaned portal and list their professions and nationalities.

Source: http://saudigazette.com.sa/

Housemaid New Rules in Saudi Arabia

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Expat Dependents Fee in Saudi Arabia

There is a provision in the budget 2017 to levy fees on each dependent of an expat worker. Expat Dependents Fee in Saudi Arabia

The proposed expat dependents’ fee will bring SR2.674 billion to state coffers annually from the first year of its implementation, according to estimates.

There are 11,660,998 expatriates and their dependents in the Kingdom, according to data.

The number of expat dependents under 19 years of age in 2016 was 2,228,525. The monthly fees that will be collected for these dependents will be around SR222,852,500 per month.

In the first year of its implementation in 2017, an expat worker will have to pay SR100 for each of his dependent every month.

In 2018, the fee will increase to SR300-SR400 per dependent per month. This will rise annually to reach SR800 per month per dependent by 2020.Expat Dependents Fee in Saudi Arabia

The fees to be paid by expatriates for their dependents will be effective from July 2017 and will be collected along with the fees for Iqama (residence permit) renewal, according to sources at the department of passports (Jawazat).

The sources, however, said the Jawazat is still waiting to receive instructions on the mechanism to collect the fees.

They recalled that the “Financial Balance” document, which was released with the General Budget on Thursday has referred to monthly fees to be imposed on all establishments in which expatriates outnumber Saudis.

Private sector establishments are currently paying SR2,000 annually for every expatriate worker.

Now companies will have to pay extra fees for expats who outnumber Saudis and also for those expats who are in equal number to the nationals.But expats will have to pay SR100 from next July per dependent per month.

In January 2018, companies where expats outnumber Saudis will have to pay SR400 every month for each expat worker and SR300 for each expat worker in companies where expats are in equal number to the nationals.

The monthly fees on expats for each of their dependents will be raised to SR200.

The fees on expats outnumbering the Saudis will be increased to SR600 per month from January 2019 while those of equal number will be increased to SR500.Expat Dependents Fee in Saudi Arabia

The fees on dependents will be increased to SR300 per dependent per month.

At the start of 2020, the fees for expatriates outnumbering Saudis will be increased to SR800 monthly and to SR700 for expatriates who are in equal number to Saudi workers in a company.

The monthly fees on the dependents will be raised to SR400 per head from mid 2020.

Labor market sources believe that regardless of the fees to be imposed on expatriates during the coming three years, the Saudi labor laws remain to be one of the most liberal in the entire world.

Expat Dependents Fee in Saudi Arabia

Source : http://saudigazette.com.sa/