To safeguard domestic workers’ rights, Saudi Arabia has implemented the compulsory insurance, effective Thursday, 1 February, 2024. The decision marks a key step in labour- market regulation within the kingdom. The Ministry of Human Resources states that this insurance mandate applies during the initial two years of domestic labour agreements.
Post the initial two years, employers have the option to make insurance voluntary. This new provision ensures compensation for both domestic workers and employers in specific circumstances. Employers are eligible for compensation in cases of the worker’s absence, escape, death, or incapacitation due to serious illness.
The classification of domestic workers in Saudi Arabia encompasses various roles, including housekeepers, drivers, housemaids, cleaners, cooks, guards, farmers, live-in nurses, tutors and nannies.
The service, facilitated through a government platform, is designed to safeguard the rights of domestic workers, including compensation for injuries resulting from accidents or non-payment of wages and other financial entitlements due to the employer’s death or incapacity.
Recently, Saudi labour authorities introduced Musaned, an official recruitment platform, to educate stakeholders about their rights and responsibilities. This platform covers various services such as visa issuance, recruitment requests and contractual relationships between employers and workers.
Moreover, the country implemented new regulations for hiring domestic workers, specifying a minimum age of 21 for workers to protect contractual rights. Additionally, they emphasise that any terms conflicting with these rules are void unless they offer greater benefits to the workers.
The regulations prioritise the dues owed to workers or their heirs as first-degree debts. Contracts between employers and workers are governed by a contract shaped by mandatory rules set by the Ministry, with the Arabic text as the authoritative version, translated into the worker’s home country’s official language.
