RIYADH — The government services for more than 90 domestic help recruitment offices have been suspended for various violations and that are based on customer complaints. The penal action was taken by the Musaned program, which was introduced by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development, to facilitate the direct hiring of foreign domestic workers to the Kingdom. According to a report of the program, the Musaned online portal handled a total of 874 complaints pertaining to employers and the offices recruiting domestic workers. Around 70 percent of complaints that were filed on the platform have been resolved by the complaints management system launched by the program. According to the system, if any recruitment office does not respond to a complaint, its license will be revoked and the financial guarantee reserved in the name of the office is liquidated and will be used to refund all financial rights to the employers. Regarding the suspension of services of recruitment offices, the program explained that if the office failed to implement the decision issued against it by Musaned within 10 days from the date specified for its implementation, the services for the office will be suspended. All the complaints will the reviewed by a specialized committee that issues criminal procedures in line with the regulations. The Musaned portal's complaints management system has classified the complaints during the contracting period such as requesting an additional amount, non-compliance with the cancelation policy, non-compliance with the late arrival fine, and non-compensation upon termination of the contract. These also include complaints during the probation period of the domestic worker such as requesting an additional amount, non-compliance with the guarantee policy, unhealthy, non-compliant to standards of work, worker's running away, and abstaining from work. The Musaned program was described as a unified transparent system that allows the ministry to monitor the contracting process between citizens and recruitment offices. It specifically allows for the issuance of an electronic contract to be signed between the worker and the employer and provides a hotline and center for resolving workers' complaints. The program also holds training sessions to domestic help on how to lodge grievances and facilitates the issuance of a SIM card, which includes the guidelines and the hotline number, to all domestic workers upon their arrival in the Kingdom.
