Domestic worker recruitment agencies seek a way out of list of most affected sectors

AMMAN —  Owners of domestic worker recruitment agencies are demanding that the Ministry of Labour “take immediate and serious measures” to support the sector.

The domestic workers recruitment agencies were among the most affected sectors, according to a list prepared by the Ministry of Labour.

Head of the Bureau Affairs Committee Lawrence Abu Zaid said that he “calls on Labour Minister Maen Qatamin to take measures that would enable the sector to exit the list”.

One of the demands was raising the agencies’ borrowing limits, a move that Abu Zaid deemed “necessary, given that many office owners will not be able to convince their banks to raise guarantees due to the bad financial situation the pandemic has put them in.”

“At a time when the Ministry of Labour insists on not renewing our agencies licences until after the guarantees have been approved by the new recruitment system, many agency owners might have to shut down their businesses,” said Abu Zaid, who noted that the new system was established during tenure of former labour minister Nidal Batayneh.

“Due to several pandemic-related issues, the arrival of many of domestic from abroad were delayed, and replacing them with other workers costs the owner JD100 each time, which has amounted to thousands given that many households were awaiting workers,” added Abu Zaid.

In remarks to The Jordan Times, Ministry of Labour Spokesperson Mohammad Zyoud said that the ministry is currently “looking into the special case of domestic workers recruitment agencies, with relaxed laws and reductions on the way”.

However, Zyoud said that the new system of guarantees is “unlikely to be overturned, especially since it was only approved after this proved to be the safest way to deal with guarantees after years of problems between domestic worker recruitment agencies, banks, the ministry and homeowners.”

One of the sector’s demands is concerned with the fees related to the change of sponsorship, which amounts to JD527 per worker.

 “If a worker does not prove compatible for a house, or the homeowner no longer wants help, or the worker requests a change for any reason, the new sponsor is forced to pay JD527, which in some cases mean that the agency has to pay a compensation of JD527 for the old sponsor,” said Abu Zaid.

Moreover, Abu Zaid noted that if a worker refuses to stay with a certain new household, the agency has a period of one week to find a new sponsor, and if not, the agency has to cover the costs for the return of the worker, which ranges between JD2,000 and JD3,500.

“This is a burden because not a lot of households are looking for additional help at the moment,” he concluded.