KUWAIT: Despite signing a memorandum of agreement between the governments of Kuwait and the Philippines in May, a new problem has arisen on recruiting domestic workers from the Philippines, said Chairman of Domestic Labor Office Owners Khalid Al-Dakhnan yesterday, noting that the Philippines authorities recently issued executive decision number 10/2018 concerning the implementation of the agreement, but added a new condition.

Dakhnan explained that the new condition, which was not included in the original charter signed in May, mandated Kuwaiti domestic labor offices to deposit $10,000 (around KD 3,000) in insurance in any local bank in the Philippines per each recruitment agency, to be used in paying the worker's dues in the event of their return home before concluding the contract, not getting paid or any other complaint. Dakhnan added that according to the condition, the insurance deposit will be increased to $50,000 per agency in the event of repeated complaints against any office.

Notably, the Indian government last year rescinded a 2014 condition mandating every employer in Kuwait wishing to employ an Indian female domestic worker to provide a bank guarantee of $2,500 (KD 720) after tensions with the Kuwaiti government over this clause.

By A Saleh

CORRECTION:  July 22, 2018

The above article misstated that Manila mandates $10K deposit for each worker. It is for each recruitment agency, not each worker. The article also misstated that the insurance deposit will be increased to $50,000 per worker in the event of repeated complaints against any office. The deposit will be increased for per agency, not per worker.