Women from South Asian countries, including Sri Lanka, Indonesia and the Philippines work as maids and nannies for families across the Gulf region. Gulf Arab governments have been criticized by rights groups, including Human Rights Watch, for failing to curb serious abuses suffered by some maids in their countries. Under the draft law in Qatar, domestic workers would be able to take disputes to a new department set up in the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs.
Employers would have to pay all expenses related to recruiting maids, including visa fees, without deducting the expenses from the employee’s salary, according to the draft law. "This article is meant to combat possible human trafficking and other practices of exploitation," said the report.
The draft law also calls for domestic workers to receive three weeks holiday a year and one paid day off each week. Workers should receive their monthly salary by the third day of every month, it added. Employers face imprisonment and fines of up to 10,000 Qatar riyals ($ 2,747) for violating the law, the paper said. Asian workers fill all sorts of low-paid construction, domestic, retail, manufacturing and agricultural jobs across the world’s biggest oil-exporting region.
