Life on the Spot! Life and Leisure in Doha, Qatar

Sources in local recruitment agencies have told a Qatari Arabic daily that a number of embassies have been demanding huge increases in the salary of housemaids from their respective countries and this amounted in some cases to 100% rise.

According to a source, the Philippine embassy revised the salary for Filipino maids after the Indian embassy raised the salary for Indian maids to QR900.

“The Filipino embassy has told recruitment agencies that the salary of Filipino maids should not be less than $400 a month in the new contracts that will be signed effective January 1, 2007. Previously it was $200 a month.”

Recruitment agencies said that the huge rise in the minimum salaries of Filipino maids would limit their numbers in Qatar. “A big segment of Qatari households prefer to recruit Filipino maids, but now that would change.”

The Labour Department has made it mandatory for recruitment agencies to prepare work contracts in advance and get it signed by the employer, before the arrival of foreign workers in Qatar.

Such contracts should also be countersigned by government officials concerned. The contracts should indicate the nature of the job and the salary.