Talks set for domestic workers pay in Saudia

Jobseekers outside County Hall, Nairobi. FILE PHOTO | NMG

By EDWIN MUTAI

More by this Author

Top officials from Saudi Arabia government will jet into the country early next month to discuss and agree with Kenya on the minimum wages payable to domestic workers employed in the Arab nation.

The National Employment Authority (NEA) told Parliament that the officials from the Labour ministry of Saudi Arabia will meet with their Kenyan counterparts in Nairobi as well as
representatives of the 48  locally registered private employment bureaus handling the export of domestic and other workers abroad.

“We have tentatively agreed to a meeting on February 5, 2018 and the Saudi labour officials will be here to consult us on minimum wages and terms of service for domestic workers working in Saudia,” Winnie Partet, the chairperson of the newly established NEA, told the Senate committee on Labour.

READ: Spare a thought for our domestic staff

NEA, the successor of the National Employment Bureau (NEB), promotes and monitors employment of Kenyans both locally and abroad.

Ms Partet, who appeared before the Johnson Sakaja-led committee alongside the Public Service Commission (PSC) vice chairperson Peter ole Nkuraiyia, said NEA seeks to protect all workers.