Kenya Signs Deal for Domestic Workers with UAE

Cases of mistreatment of Kenyan domestic workers could soon be a thing of the past after Kenya and the United Arabs Emirates (UAE) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).

The MoU will see the two countries cooperate in the field of domestic workers. The deal regulates hiring of Kenyan domestic workers in a bid to inject transparency in all phases of the contractual work. 

UAE Minister of Human Resources and Emiratisation Nasser Bin Thani Al Hameli and Kenya’s Minister of Labour and Social Protection Ukur Yattani signed the MoU.

The agreement states that an employer must present a job offer that gives detailed information about the rights and duties of the employer and employee as well as terms and conditions. It will also contain a work permit application, which will be submitted by the employer to the UAE ministry.

Kenyan authorities will then make sure that the worker approves the contractual terms and signs the contract. Once the worker lands in UAE, the job offer will be retrieved from the ministry’s database and registered officially as a legal contract in the ministry’s database after each party signs it. 

Both employer and employee will be given a copy of the document. Employers will not be allowed to alter or change the contract, unless it is of best interest of the employee and with the ministry’s nod.

In the case of any dispute between the the parties, a complaint will filed with the ministry’s specialised department, which will seek to strike a friendly settlement between the two within a set time frame. If a truce isn’t reached, the complaint will be referred to the judicial authorities.

The MoU further states that only licensed and registered recruitment agencies in UAE will be allowed to hire Kenyan domestic workers. In the same way, only such agencies in Kenya will be permitted to submit names and information of persons who are eligible for approved and available job opportunities in UAE.