Contractual Solutions for Migrant Labourers: The Case of Domestic Workers in the Middle East

This article discusses domestic and international responses to the issue of abuse of female domestic workers in the Middle East, and concludes that a standard working contract, such as that in use in Jordan at this time, provides a promising solution. The article begins with a brief overview of the migrant labour situation in the Arabian Gulf, the costs and benefits to workers who travel to the region, and the increasing feminisation of the workforce due to the demand for domestic workers. It then describes the conditions of employment for domestic workers, including the sponsorship system in place in Arab countries for temporary workers and its negative effects on working conditions in the home. Domestic workers are ill-protected by cultural and legal structures in both receiving and sending countries. Ultimately, despite the far-reaching reservations based on Islamic Shari’ah law that many Arab countries have made to human rights treaties, international law still requires them to monitor the private sector to prevent abuse of workers by employers. Just such regulation could be achieved through a standardised working contract which could help towards improving workers’ bargaining power, allow workers to bring complaints to a judicial authority, provide for fairer and more efficient judicial proceedings, and encourage domestic and international monitoring of the enforcement of judgments