An investment in maid turns out to be risky – Kafeel kisses KD800 goodbye
The recruitment agency refused to return the money to the man – a case that has brought to the surface a prevalent problem about lack of protection for kafeels whose domestic helpers run away immediately after being hired. "When I hired the housemaid, I was told that if any problem arose, the housemaid could be sent back to the agency," he said, adding that the housemaid was good and wanted to stay with his family.
The kafeel transferred her residency under his name. When the formalities were over, the maid decided that she no longer wanted to stay in his home. "The reason she gave was that she could not stand my children and decided to go back to the agency that found her the employment. "I did not wish to let her stay against her will, so I referred her back to the agency," he said. The recruitment agency promised to return him the money when the housemaid was employed by a new kafeel. After a few days, however, the Arab expat received a call from the maid who informed him that she ran away from the agency and was under the embassy's protection.
Under these circumstances, the agency refused to return the money he had paid for the maid. "They informed me that it was not their fault that the housemaid left and that they cannot return my money," he narrated. Even after the Arab expat threatened that he would complain to the ministry, the recruitment agency urged him to go ahead and file a complaint. "I filed a complaint with the overseeing body but have not received a positive answer.
Instead, I was told to forget about the money I had paid. The body overseeing recruitment agencies informed me that I had hired a housemaid from an illegal agency," the Arab expat said. An agency owner who spoke with this reporter on the condition of anonymity said that it was impossible to have illegal recruitment offices operating in Kuwait. The recruitment agency questioned the legitimacy of such an employer.
If the sponsor goes to the Domestic Labor Department under the Ministry of Interior (Amala Mansiliya) they could help him. "The department will pay the amount taken by the agency in case the agency fails to do so though it may not necessarily be the entire amount but at least the amount paid to process the domestic helper's visa," the agency owner said. The agency owner explained that any agency dealing with the Filipino domestic helper must be legal. "They cannot operate and hire Filipino housemaids if they are illegal. Our POEA is very strict when it comes to recruitment agencies, so I doubt whether they are illegal," he opined.
However, she told Kuwait Times that based on the law being followed/provided by the Domestic Labor Department here, any sponsor (in Kuwait, local or expat) is given at least 100 days (on probation) for the domestic helper. If the maid did not leave within this period, the local recruitment agency cannot be forced to return the cost of hiring domestic helper. "If the housemaids are hired locally, the sponsor is only given a 100 days period to observe the housemaid and decide whether she can manage the household work.
If they hired the housemaid directly from the Philippines, our embassy requires us to watch and shoulder the responsibility (for the housemaid) at least until they complete the two year contract but that is not the case with the local law here," the recruitment agency owner said. "I pity the employer but what can we do as it is their domestic law being followed in Kuwait," the recruitment agency owner reiterated.
The owner also called for immediate passage of Kuwait's domestic labor law, which is pending with the National Assembly for years as it would help resolve such cases. "There are many reasons why a domestic labor law is needed but in particular it is required to solve issues related to domestic help once and for all, and perhaps clearly spell out the rights of employers as well," she concluded.
By Ben Garcia, Kuwait Times Staff
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