Saudi Arabia- Filipino housemaid complains employer not honoring work contract 

(MENAFN - Arab News) A Filipino housemaid has complained her employer does not respect her contract.

Angeline (not her real name) said that instead of receiving 350, she was told she would receive 250 (SR 900), and that she would receive her salary every three months. She also does not get a day off.

Earlier reports said the new contract agreement between the Kingdom and the Philippines, which contains 19 articles, guarantees the rights of both the employer and the employee. The latter should receive 400 (SR 1,500), to be deposited directly to the housemaid's bank account.

However, a senior Filipino diplomat in the Kingdom said he suspected that Angeline's contract had been under the old rules, in force before the new agreement.

The hiring of new housemaids had earlier been suspended, but resumed on Oct. 21. "Since she had applied four months before her flight in November, she could have been hired under the old contract," the diplomat said. He said one way to check this is to find out whether a bank account had been opened for her. If not, he added, that means she may have been hired under the old contract. "Under the new standard employment contract, the salary is not being mentioned. However, it's being mentioned that a housemaid is entitled to a day off once a week," he said.

By RODOLFO ESTIMO JR.