Employers in Saudi Arabia are Now Required to Issue Prepaid Salary Cards to Domestic Workers

The Ministry of Labor and Social Development is calling out individual employers again to start issuing prepaid salary cards to their domestic workers as soon as they arrive in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Ensuring the Rights of the Domestic Workers

According to the Ministry, sponsors or employers of the housemaids or domestic drivers are obliged to give them an ATM card from a bank which will allow workers to withdraw money as soon as it is salary day.

Under the new regulation, the sponsor is required to deposit the worker’s wages in their bank accounts. The workers, in turn, can withdraw their wages from their banks through their ATM cards. There are also some banks who have ATM cards known as Salary Cards.

According to Arab News, the president of the Human Rights First Society in Saudi Arabia, Ibrahim Almugaiteeb, said that it is an excellent move to ensure that the rights of the workers are being followed. This scheme is introduced by the government for the benefit of the foreign workers in Saudi Arabia. It will also ensure that the workers are paid their salaries on time and regularly.

How To Get these Prepaid Salary Cards?

Here are the procedures on how to avail a prepaid salary card:

1. The employer must register for the service at a bank through the Musaned online portal (www.musaned.com.sa).
2. The employer can create an electronic recruitment contract and specify the worker’s monthly wage before saving the contract on the website and printing of the copy.

Wage Protection System

Khalid Aba Al-Khail, the Ministry’s spokesman, pointed out that the wage protection system covers all kinds of domestic workers in Saudi Arabia. The ministry wants all employers who have domestic workers in their houses, to get on board with this new policy within six months.

The program aims to protect the rights of both the employers and the employees, improve the work circumstances for domestic workers, increase their job security, and to promote the principles of human rights in the Kingdom.