Saudi introduces minimum salary requirements for domestic worker hiring

Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Labour and Social Development has announced new conditions on citizens and residents for hiring domestic workers including minimum bank salary requirements.

Under the new rules, married Saudi citizens should have a bank balance of at least SAR35,000 ($9,333) to hire a worker, while foreign residents must have at least SAR10,000 ($2666), according to Arab News.

The ministry said it had the right to verify the financial position of applicants.

Married Saudi citizens are restricted to three visas in total including one male house worker.

Other permitted job roles include female house worker, private driver, baby sitter, male cook, female cook, waiter, male nurse and female nurse.

The first visa will require SAR5,000 of “financial ability” on top of the SAR35,000 bank balance for Saudis. This will rise to SAR500,000 ($133,000) on the fifth visa, according to the publication.

Married male and female foreigners with salaries higher than SAR10,000 can recruit two house workers under their sponsorship, but bachelors’ can only recruit one.

Foreign residents can only hire domestic staff under the female house worker, private driver and baby sitter categories.

In February, the labour ministry introduced new regulation designed to prevent the abuse of domestic workers.

This included the ability for staff to switch sponsorship if they are not paid for three consecutive or separate months.

Read: Saudi labour ministry allows transfer of domestic workers