Lanka, Saudi Arabia ink e-hiring system for migrant workers recruitment

Sri Lanka and Saudi Arabia have inked an agreement to set up an electronic system that would streamline recruitment from the island nation.

Saudi Deputy Labor Minister for Customer and Labor Relations Ziad Al-Sayegh has said the agreement was recently signed in Colombo during the bi-annual joint technical committee meeting held to monitor the progress of labor relations, reports Colombo page.

The electronic system will function through Saudi Ministry of Labor's Musaned website and will keep a tab wages of the domestic workers and charged levied by exporting countries.

The new system will enable competitiveness between recruitment agencies and reduce delays.

Both nations had last year signed a labor pact protecting the rights of workers and employers, covering 12 categories of domestic workers including housemaids, drivers, cleaners, and waiters employed by individuals.

The new agreement includes details of working conditions, health and safety requirements and that the contracts be in a language understood by the workers.

If the workers want to leave after serving for two years, the employers must agree to terminate the service contracts and employees have the right to retain all their travel documents.