Tuesday, March 17, 2015

A DOMESTIC WORKER HAS A RIGHT TO REST

In one of the social sites a Kenyan lady raised an issue of being overworked and denied rest by her employer. The young lady said that she only gets a 3 hour sleep and spends the entire day standing while doing the house chores.





This is indeed sad and it’s just one of the many untold cases of suffering young girls go through. However, most young ladies working as domestic helpers in the kingdom never raise such issues and this is due to the mentality and stories of “long working hours” they've been told when they were leaving Kenya to come and work in the Kingdom.

Domestic workers in the kingdom view themselves as people who have no rights and that they should always say yes to everything without realizing that they actually have the power and rights that even their sponsors are aware of. …But if you are naïve then your boss will watch you work as a helpless donkey.

According the labor laws of the Kingdom, a domestic worker is entitled to rest. That’s a fact and a sponsor/employer is aware of and indeed he knows the consequences of denying a worker a time rest.  The law states that a domestic helper is entitled to a 9 hour daily rest which if an employer denies his/her worker can lead to a fine of 5,000 S.R and being banned from employing a maid for 1 year.

In addition, a domestic helper is entitled to a 1 day weekly off and this depends on the contract between you and your employer. However, the one day off means that you will take a rest and not go out of the house.

But what if your boss denies you to have hours to rest? Or if he overworks you? Can you complain? What is the procedure? A post on how to raise your complaints with the right authorities will be published soon.


For questions, Comments or Suggestions kindly feel free.

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