Many questions have been raised as to the disparity in fees charged by recruitment offices for hiring domestic labor from abroad. However, a recruitment expert has attributed the cost inconsistency to differing rules and terms laid down by manpower exporting countries. Mansour Aljabri told Al-Riyadh Arabic paper, sister publication of Riyadh Daily that the cost of hiring some nationalities, such as Sri Lankans, was greatly inflated. Some recruitment offices raised prices without any justification whatsoever, he said, adding that the low cost of hiring domestic help from some countries was a result of agreements between the Saudi Ministry of Labor and the concerned nations. The Kingdom has limited the recruitment of domestic workers to six countries: Cambodia, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and India. The cost of recruiting domestic workers from Philippines has been set for SR 16,000, but some offices are charging as much as SR 25,000, according to Aljabri. Recruitment fees for Vietnamese domestic labor vary between SR 18,000 to SR 23,000, while the charge for Bangladeshis is the lowest at SR 7,000. The rate for Pakistani domestic labor varied significantly, from SR 11,000 to SR 15,000. A Sri Lanka domestic worker costs the highest: SR 26,000. A few days ago, the Ministry of Labor and Social Development began implementing the new rates of $1,560 per head for hiring domestic help from Sri Lanka and Philippines.
