New pay scale for Lankan maids comes into effect

The new pay scale for Sri Lankan domestic helpers has come into effect, a senior Sri Lankan mission official in the UAE said.

Under the new pay scale it is mandatory for a Sri Lankan housemaid to be paid Dh825 a month. Previously they were paid Dh600.

"We have signed 35 to 40 contracts under the new pay scale," said S.A. Zain, the Lankan Labour and Welfare Officer at the consulate in Dubai.

In Abu Dhabi, about 21 contracts have been signed so far under the new pay scale. The new scale took effect on January 1.

There are about 175,000 Sri Lankans in the UAE of which an estimated 55 per cent are employed as housemaids.

Of about 1.5 million Sri Lankans working overseas, a million are women. Sri Lanka has a memorandum of understanding signed with the UAE and Jordan on labour.

Sri Lanka had announced its plan to set minimum wage for its citizens working as domestic helpers overseas last year with the visit of Foreign Employment Promotion and Welfare Minister Keheliya Rambukwella.

He said one of the main reasons for the implementation of a minimum wage limit is because a majority of the helpers working overseas are women. He said for 20 years Sri Lanka has been considering a minimum wage scale.

The new wage scale was dubbed unjustified by recruitment agencies in the UAE and sponsors who had claimed that Sri Lankan domestic helpers are untrained.

"When the minimum wages were announced last year, people were sceptical and said they demand for Sri Lankan domestic helpers will fall. But so far so good," said Zain. "Recruitment agents had earlier consented for Dh700 to be set as the minimum wage instead of Dh825."

Sri Lankan Ambassador Mohammad Nabavi Junaid, said he was optimistic that the demand for Sri Lankan domestic helpers will increase given the salaries of both public and private sector have gone up recently.

He said: "It is now mandatory for Sri Lankan domestic helpers going overseas for employment to undergo a one-and-a-half month training programme. They will be trained on the proper usage of electrical appliances, UAE customs and traditions."

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