By RAUL V. GONZALES
The Kuwait government has adopted a new measure to improve the working conditions of and protect Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) from human rights and other abuses, the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) announced.
Labor Secretary Patricia A. Sto. Tomas said that Kuwait has enforced a new contract of employment specifying the respective responsibilities and obligations of the parties, the worker, sponsor or employer, and the recruiting office in the employment of domestic workers in the Middle East country.
Kuwait-based Labor Attaché Leopoldo de Jesus said that the new employment contract for domestic workers is aimed at ensuring the welfare of domestic workers and preventing various conflicts especially those pertaining to human rights that may arise in the course of the workers’ employment in Kuwait.
"The contract would serve as a reminder of the responsibilities and obligations of the contracting parties," De Jesus said.
The labor attachè said that the Kuwait government is tidying up administrative problems to ensure the smooth implementation of the new employment contract.
Under the new contract, De Jesus said the second party or sponsors and employers must provide the domestic workers a full salary at the end of each month, proper accommodation, clothes, and health care, one day off each week, one month vacation leave with pay each year, three breaks lasting at least one hour everyday, in addition to their sleeping time and two months vacation plus a return ticket to their home country if they worked for the same sponsor for two consecutive years.
"The sponsors or employer would also be responsible for any work-related injury suffered by the domestic workers. In case of death of the domestic worker, the sponsor is required to pay a subsidy to the domestic worker’s kin equivalent to the domestic worker’s two-month salary, in addition to the salary for the month during which the domestic worker died," De Jesus said.
"They should also shoulder the cost of sending the corpse of the domestic worker to his home country provided that the cause of death is not attributed to a previous illness and not within the six months guarantee after the contract signing," he said.
"In addition, the sponsor or employer under the contract would be liable for any unlawful act it may commit against the domestic workers, and that it is also prohibited to allow the domestic workers to work with another person for the duration of the contract," De Jesus said.
