The Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation (MOHRE) has announced the establishment of three channels to receive comments and complaints from customers about domestic labor recruitment centers.
The Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratization’s Assistant Undersecretary for Domestic Worker Affairs, Khalil Khoury, confirmed the ministry's readiness to receive comments from customers on the 62 approved domestic worker recruitment centers or the 84 recently closed offices that are in breach of regulations. These may be comments related to financial claims, such as refund of recruitment fees during the domestic workers' 6-month probationary period or after that period has expired, as well as comments related to labor substitution under the implementing regulations of the Domestic Workers Law.
The Ministry recently announced the closure of 84 offices that violated the Domestic Workers Law nationwide, in cooperation and coordination with the concerned local authorities to implement the optimal provisions of the law, including limiting the negative practices committed by the offices that violated the law, which affected the rights of those who dealt with them, such as employers, national and resident families, and domestic workers.
Khoury said the ministry's handling of comments received follows a special mechanism whereby the person concerned and the center concerned are contacted within five working days of receiving the comment to settle the matter amicably or refer it to the judiciary for consideration and decision if a mutually satisfactory solution is not reached.
He explained that the Ministry provides three channels to receive feedback for convenience of employers and citizens and resident families. The channels include the call center at toll-free number 80060 from eight in the morning to eight in the evening, from Saturday to Thursday, in four languages, as well as the ministry's website www.mohre.gov.ae, in addition to the ministry's smart app available in the "Apple Store" and "Google Play". He pointed out that the Ministry strives to guarantee the rights of all stakeholders, be they employers, national and resident families, domestic workers or centers that recruit this category of workers.
Khoury urged employers and national and resident families who wish to use and employ domestic workers to contact approved centers that provide services to clients in accordance with the provisions of the law and implementing regulations and guarantee the rights of all parties.
The Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation explained that approved domestic labor recruitment centers are required to provide a two-year guarantee for the domestic worker, refunding the client the full recruitment cost or providing another worker if any of the four cases occur during the first six months of the contract (the probationary period). These cases include termination of the contract by the employee without a legitimate reason, leaving the job without an acceptable reason, or the employee's lack of health fitness and inability to perform work duties in the required and agreed manner.
Centers are required to reimburse a portion of the recruitment costs if two events occur during the period after the probationary period until the end of the two-year contract, namely, if the employee terminates the contract after the probationary period without a legitimate reason or if the employee abandons the job after the probationary period without an acceptable reason. These amounts are calculated according to the remaining contract period in months from the total recruitment cost.
MOHRE-approved labor recruitment centers provide their clients with an integrated package of services tailored to meet the needs of employers and families, citizens, and residents of the country.