No matter what we endure with bad employment situations in the USA, we have it so much better than the majority of the world's domestic workers. Hopefully equal rights will continue to spread throughout the nations.
For many people around the world, new rules to protect rights of migrant domestic workers in Saudi Arabia may seem about as basic as human rights come.
The guidelines state that employers must give workers one day off per week, a nine-hour break between shifts, salaries without delay, suitable accommodations and paid sick leave. Those are improvements, but the rights of foreign workers will still be extremely limited. An example: the labor ministry said that workers will not “have the right to reject a work, or leave a job, without a valid reason.” As for vacations, workers will be entitled to one month’s paid leave after putting in two years of work. There are about eight million foreign workers in the oil-rich kingdom, but the actual number of domestic workers, the majority of whom are foreign, is not available.
Growing awareness about ill-treatment of domestic workers in recent years has triggered international outcry and pushed countries like Philippines, Indonesia, Nepal and Kenya to impose restrictions on their citizens migrating to Saudi Arabia for domestic work. New York-based Human Rights Watch documented a range of abuses including forced confinement, food deprivation, and psychological, physical and sexual abuse.
via Household help in Saudi Arabia will soon get what workers around the world take for granted – Quartz.