US embassy cable - 05KUWAIT3603

UNCLAS KUWAIT 003603 
 
SIPDIS 
 
FOR G/TIP, NEA/ARPI 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM, PREL, PGOV, KCRM, KU 
SUBJECT: GOK ANNOUNCES DETAILS OF NEW MAID CONTRACTS 
 
REF: A. KUWAIT 2588 
 
     B. KUWAIT 3532 
     C. KUWAIT 3158 
 
1. The Ministry of Interior (MOI), the entity responsible for 
domestic workers, officially announced the details of a new 
contract between domestic servants, sponsoring employers and 
recruitment agencies, scheduled to take effect October 1. All 
Kuwaiti newspapers gave first page or other prominent 
coverage to the new rules. Post had obtained an early copy of 
the contract, originally reported July 17 in ref C, which 
would stipulate that sponsoring employers should provide 
expatriate servants in Kuwait, an estimated 450,000, the 
following benefits: 
 
-Appropriate accommodation, food, clothing and medical 
treatment; 
-On time salary payment at the end of the month; 
-Three breaks per day in addition to sleep time; 
-No salary deduction to recuperate recruitment costs; 
-One month of paid leave per year; 
-Repatriation of human remains in case of death and indemnity 
of two months' salary to survivors. 
 
Servants would need to present the signed contract to the 
Kuwaiti embassy in their home countries for validation before 
receiving a visa to travel. 
 
2. The new contract, outlined by MOI Assistant Undersecretary 
Major General Thabet Al-Muhanna in local dailies August 13 as 
part of an on-going public awareness campaign, would provide 
protections to sponsors as well. Agencies would be obligated 
to refund recruitment costs should the maid's information in 
the contract, such as skills and disabilities, be incorrect. 
Sponsors would have six months to return the domestic 
employee to the agency in case of misrepresentation after 
consultation with the MOI's Domestic Helpers Department. 
Al-Muhanna reported that the MOI has revoked the licenses of 
163 agencies for violating regulations, bringing the total 
down to 465 officially sanctioned recruitment offices. 
 
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http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/kuwait/ 
 
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LEBARON