DOHA: Qatar’s cabinet has approved a draft law specifying the rights and duties of domestic workers in an attempt to regulate the industry, the state news agency QNA announced.
The new law is a significant step towards regulating the services of domestic workers as they are not currently covered by Qatar’s existing labour law.
The law also sets out the rights and duties of domestic workers’ sponsors, to clarify the relationship.
Under the legislation, a domestic worker is defined as a person who carries out household works “under the management and supervision of the sponsor in return for a wage in line with the contract and established norm”, QNA said.
Domestic helpers include drivers, nannies, cooks, gardeners and their equivalents, the law states. According to the provisions of the bill, once ratified, the law will apply to sponsors and domestic helpers and dictate the terms of the relationship between them.
