OVER 50,000 Filipino household service workers are expected to benefit from Qatar's newly enacted employment law, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said Wednesday.
"This will certainly lead to the recognition, promotion, and protection of the rights of Filipino and other migrant household service workers in Qatar," said Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano as thanked Qatar for passing this "progressive legislation".
Foreign Affairs Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs Sarah Lou Arriola said the coverage of Qatar's new "Domestic Employment Law" has been expanded to now also cover household service workers and provides them with some degree of legal protections.
Under the new law, household service workers are now to work for only 10 hours per day, six days a week and are entitled to annual vacations, paid sick leaves and guaranteed breaks for meals and worship, she said.
"This is certainly a cause for celebration as this new law would benefit more than 50,000 Filipino household service workers who did not enjoy these benefits before," Arriola added.
There are approximately 246,000 overseas Filipino workers in Qatar, making the Philippines the third county origin of migrant workers in the country, the DFA said. (SDR/SunStar Philippines)