The study aims to examine the extent to which domestic workers, employers, recruitment agencies and civil society that deal with domestic workers benefit from Law No. 68 on domestic workers, year 2015. The study also looks at the effectiveness of the implementation of the law three years after it was adopted.
Migrant domestic workers account for 27% of the total number of migrant workers engaged in the private sector in the State of Kuwait. The study questionnaire targeted the following respondents:
- Domestic Workers
- Employers
- Recruitment agencies
- Civil Society Organizations
The study revealed that migrant domestic workers, employers and recruitment agencies do not have enough knowledge about the law. There is also no strong monitoring of the implementation of the law. Some of the findings of the study include the following:
- The degree of knowledge of employers, domestic workers, recruitment offices, and civil society workers is rather weak and does not exceed the superficial knowledge of the law.
- (62.2%) of the employers are unaware of Law (68/2015) regarding domestic workers, despite the fact that the law has come to force for more than three years.
- (71.59%) of the employers are unaware of Law (68/2015) regarding domestic workers, despite the fact that the law has come to force for more than three years.
- Despite the desire of the employers of the existence of a law regulating their relationship with the domestic workers and recruitment offices, they still violate the law by retaining the travel documents, in view of the fact that (91.9%) of employers retain the travel documents of their domestic workers, while depriving them of additional fees when working beyond the working hours, and while also depriving them of their annual leave and weekly rest, and making them work longer hours than stipulated by law.
- Domestic workers comply with the instructions given to them by employers according to (84.97%) of employers, despite the fact that they are still being treated in a humiliating manner sometimes, and are entrusted with difficult and hazardous works at other times.
- Absence of an employment contract between (56%) of employers and domestics workers.
- The majority of domestic workers, i.e. (77.64%), work more than ten hours a day.
- (86.95%) of the owners of recruitment offices believe that the law has failed to create a positive relationship between the recruitment offices and the management of domestic workers.
- (78.25%) of the owners of recruitment offices believe that the conditions for issuing and renewing the license to recruit domestic workers stipulated in the law are unjust and complicated.
- The lack of specialized civil societies activities existence which provide their assistance to the domestic workers, such as legal aid and presentation in courts, consultations and guidelines regarding laws regulating their work contracts, their rights and obligations , raising public awareness regarding the laws regulating house workers contracts.
For more information please visit the website of the Kuwait Society for Human Rights:
www.kuwaithr.org/news/society-news/item/817-2481000.html
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