In its newly passed "Working procedure for domestic workers, 2015," the government has set a prerequisite for employers to present their domestic helpers at Nepali embassies and update the missions about their status.Amidst reports about exploitation of Nepali domestic workers, the government decided to bring such provision to safeguard the rights of workers.
The Social Committee of the Cabinet passed the modality two days ago and has forwarded it to the Ministry of Labor and Employment (MoLE) on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the government is set to lift the ban enforced since the last 10 months on domestic workers to Gulf countries within a month.
State Minister Gurung said that the task of enlisting the recruitment agencies and formulating other system will take a month.
"We want our workers to be safe in destination countries at any cost," he said, adding, "We will lift the ban after making full preparations."
He even informed that the government would push for government-to-government (G2G) mechanism to send domestic workers in a systematic way.
According to the new law, domestic workers should be sent only through foreign employment agencies that are enlisted by the government. Earlier, women could travel to destination countries using their own channels.
The working modality even mandates the employers to deposit monthly salary of their workers in a bank and provide 24-hour health insurance.
The companies in destination countries must submit collateral of 10,000 dollars at Nepali embassies or missions and registered manpower agencies in Nepal need to deposit Rs 300,000 in order to send domestic workers, states the newly-passed law.
"The government introduced the system of collateral for both senders and receivers for the safety of workers. Companies must rescue and compensate workers when they land in trouble," informed Ramesh Koirala, legal advisor at the MoLE.
Also, now there is a new age bar of 25 for aspirant female migrants to work in the Gulf countries, Lebanon and Malaysia. Earlier, the government had set the age bar at 30 for female domestic workers..
Major provisions in the new law
· Employees should be presented at Nepali missions every four months
· Salary to be sent to bank accounts
· Recruitment only through government listed agencies
· Minimum three months training before departure
· 24-hour health insurance of workers
· 10,000 dollars deposit per Nepali domestic worker
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