Saudi says new online system will reduce need for maid recruitment offices

Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Labour and Social Development will soon complete the formalities to allow the recruitment of all housemaids electronically without the use of brokers, according to reports.

Arabic daily Al-Eqtisadiah quoted the country’s deputy minister of labour, Ahmed Al-Humaidan, as saying the changes would mean “there will be no need for the recruitment offices any more”.

All contracts and fees for recruiting a maid will also settled through the Musaned online portal.

Read: Saudi labour ministry introduces maid recruitment app

“The intermediary will transfer 25 percent of the cost to the recruitment office in the country exporting housemaids and will remit the balance after all the recruitment procedures have been completed,” Al-Humaidan said, according to the publication.

No official start date was given for the system.

The ministry is currently touring housemaid exporting countries to explain how Musaned works and how it will “stop the involvement of brokers”.

Recruitment offices in these countries will be chosen through the online system, which will provide the names of service providers inside and outside of the kingdom.

The kingdom has recently moved to improve transparency in the domestic helper recruitment process and approved new rules that allow workers to change employers if they are not paid on time for three consecutive months.

Read: Saudi labour ministry allows transfer of domestic workers