Comments on: Saudi Sponsorship System

By: amellie.net » Campaign Against Abuse of Workers

amellie.net » Campaign Against Abuse of Workers — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 21:20:25 +0000

[…] My experience of working in Saudi Arabia last year was also shocking. The mistreatments did not only happen in households but also in offices. Two of my bosses were very nice to me; maybe because I’m a woman and I held quite a good position in those companies that I worked at. They never screamed and yelled at me (thank God). But I was completely stunned at how they treated the other workers (e.g. driver and office boy). They NEVER treated these workers with respect; I barely heard my bosses said "thank you" or “please” to them every time they did something (like making coffee, etc). They never hesitate to scream and yell at these poor employees, especially if they’re in a really bad mood… as if these workers were the source of the problems! I also saw my boss throw stuffs in the presence of his employees when he was so angry at them for few times. Although he didn’t throw directly to them, it made me DAMN SCARED and I was sure everyone was not pleased to see it. One of the workers I knew had not received his salary for 3 months, yet he was expected to work more than necessary during busy weeks. And believe it or not, I was almost in that position too. […]

By: sandrar

sandrar — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 22:13:28 +0000

Hi! I was surfing and found your blog post… nice! I love your blog. 🙂 Cheers! Sandra. R.

By: ahmad

ahmad — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 20:38:01 +0000

salam.
amel, yes it is right that many sponsors are so afraid if their maid escape from the house. that’s why they often refuse to give the maid salary, normally for first five months. in this matter, it is not fair if the maid are denied to get her salary because she really need it. so there should be a rule that handle this case. but i heard from my friend that it is better to build a mutual negotiation between sponsor and his worker through official witnesses in the office (recruitment office). for example, sistem selang seling, i mean, the sponsor should give the salary for the first month, and keep the second, then give the third month salary, keep the fourth and so on until the sponsor keep five month salary as guarantee if someday the maid go back before the contract. so this mount of guarantee will be used for ticket and as compensation for the sponsor. so here i want to emphasis that the key is in mutual negotiation between maid and sponsor witnessed with officials (like recruitment office) without any intimidation, pressure or the like.
i think that all what i can comment here.
keep moving.
i like your posting.
ahmad.
riyadh

By: John Orford

John Orford — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 13:10:12 +0000

this is v interesting.

but even with this system, i suppose it’s better that workers have a /chance/ to come to saudi, and earn some money for their families, eh?

They have no chance of working in Europe, for example.