Labour Recruiting Firms Tip Domestic Workers Going Abroad

Domestic workers (housemaids) are on high demand especially in Middle East countries.

While a domestic worker earns an average of Shs100, 000 per month in Uganda, the same worker earns an average of Shs900, 000 per month in the Middle East countries.

But a worker in the Middle East is entitled to other benefits as provided under the law that include free accommodation, free food, medical insurance and bonuses. Records show that domestic workers are approximately 30% of all migrant employees in the Middle East.

However, after complaints of reported exploitation in recent years, Uganda Association for External Recruitment Agencies (UAERA) has come up with several measures to ensure that Ugandans working abroad worker under better conditions.

UAERA, an umbrella body that brings together over 150 labour recruitment and exporting agencies has been at the forefront of streamlining the sector in close collaboration with Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development.

To understand and decipher matters domestic workers, Business Focus had an exclusive interview with True North Consult Ltd, a member of UAERA that is currently solely exporting domestic workers to Saudi Arabia.

True North also does HR consulting and jobs outsourcing.

Muzafaru Mugula (in featured photo), the Operations Manager at True North Consult Ltd says they have been in business for over 10 years but joined labour export business around 2015.

He says True North Consult Ltd joined UAERA because it negotiates with government on behalf of the members on issues regarding the industry.

It also sometimes gets labour externalization deals for members, Mugula adds.

“UAERA is more of a regulatory body; it gives us standards on which to operate; we file monthly reports especially on the number of girls we have exported,” he says, adding that the association is keen to know whether the company followed the right procedures while exporting them.

He says lately the company exports an average of 50 girls to Saudi Arabia. 

Asked on how companies ensure safety of Ugandan workers abroad, Mugula says UAERA members are encouraged to have close monitoring systems including relating well with the employers and sister companies in Saudi Arabia and other Middle East countries.

“We make periodic calls to the girls because we have their contacts; when the phone is off, we call the office in Saudi Arabia,” he says, adding that UAERA and Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development are working hand in hand to reduce human trafficking.

“Before taking Ugandans abroad for jobs, we must be cleared by Interpol Police (one must have a certificate of good conduct) and the Ministry of Labour,” he says.

No money charged on domestic workers

Mugula explains that once domestic workers have all the necessary requirements including medical examination (yellow fever vaccination is a must), a passport, passport photos, National Identification Card and one full photo, labour recruitment companies shouldn’t charge any fee because they earn commission from the employers.

He however says, for domestic workers without the said requirements, they are asked to pay money not in excess of Shs500, 000 to help them fulfill the requirements.

“At True North, we sometimes top-up for some candidates who are willing to go but can’t afford to get the necessary requirements,” Mugula says.

Challenges

He says the industry is plagued with fraudsters.

“Once fraudsters see adverts, they start calling unsuspecting Ugandans posing as employees of recruiting companies to defraud them. As True North, we have arrested many,” he says.

Mugula says negative public especially on social media affects the industry. He says their research shows that some Ugandans who make ‘noise’ on social media do it after attaining their hidden goals.

“Some people have goals; some want to step on the plane while others have a target of say Shs5m. Once they get it, they cancel the contract and return before it ends.  We make a lot of losses in compensation,” Mugula says.

He adds that some people start faking exploitation after achieving the intended goal.

He says that recruitment companies train the girls, but some cancel at last minute.

“After training and getting all the requirements for someone, someone tells you ‘I have made up my mind; I am no longer going!’. We are also being ‘used’,” says Mugula.

He says there are about 15 training centres recommended by the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development.

“They are trained in customer care, cultures where they are going and how to use the various apparatus used in homes like washing machines and cookers,” he says, adding that no one can go out as a domestic worker without undergoing this training.

Advice

Mugula advises Ugandans to research about the registered companies and talk to the association in case they have issues.

“You get to know the right people to deal with. It also helps reduce on fraud,” he says.

Impact on Economy

In a recent interview, Ibrahim K Bogere, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and founding partner of KHM International Consultants Ltd, a legitimate entity licensed by government to export labour and a member of UAERA, said labour export business can transform Uganda’s economy.

He said Uganda should borrow a leaf from countries like India and China that have their citizens working across the globe.

“Government should take a lead in externalizing labour as a short term goal to end unemployment. Uganda’s economy will improve if we embrace what China and India,” he said.

He added that with exception of domestic workers, Ugandan workers in Middle East countries earn an average of US$400-500 per month. This means these Ugandans have already achieved the middle income status because each will have earned an average of Shs45m in two years.

“If you have one million Ugandans working in Diaspora and earning an average of US$500, this can change the economy,” he says, adding that the money has a multiplier effect.

 According to World Bank, IMF and Bank of Uganda figures, personal remittances to Uganda have grown by 174.6% from $451.6million (Shs1.66trillion) in 2007 to $1.24billion (Shs1.6trillion) in 2018.