Your part-time help could have a criminal history

Major General Mohammed Al Marri, Head of Dubai Naturalisation and Residency Department has called on the public to avoid hiring part-time helpers.
 
“We call nationals and expatriates residents in the UAE to avoid hiring part-time employees as babysitters or housemaids. This is a serious issue. It is very complicated, and it can put them in serious trouble,” he warned.
 
He pointed out that doing so puts the baby, the mother and the whole family at risk.
 
Many people hire these part-time housemaids or babysitters from advertisements placed on the notice boards of supermarkets, or the classified of different papers.
 
“The employers do not know anything about these strangers. They should not go by the look of these people. They should be fully aware of the seriousness of this issue.
 
“The majority, if not all part-time babysitters and housemaids, are absconders from their employers. The family must avoid hiring them as they don’t know anything about them. They also don’t know if they were carriers of serious diseases that can be passed to the child or the family. Many of them abscond from their employers when they find out that they are sick with serious and contagious diseases,” Al Marri said.

Moreover, if anything goes wrong or if the servant steals and runs away, employers cannot complain and have the wrong addressed.
 
He pointed out that hiring part-time baby sitters or housemaids is illegal and it can lead to payment of Dh50,000 to Dh100,000 in fine.
 
“If the part-time helper has absconded from the sponsor, then the person who hires him or her will have to pay Dh50,000 in fine. If he or she has entered the country illegally, then the person who hires him or her will be fined Dh100,000,” he warned.
 
Major General Al Marri said that those who seek such helpers are violating the UAE laws, and if they come to know about any such incident, they will be fined.
 
“To hire anybody in the UAE, there should be a contract between the employer and the employee. The employee must also be under the sponsorship of the employer.  This is necessary to protect the rights of both parties. Those who hire baby sitters for part time without any legal contract or right are violating the laws and committing a crime. Many of them are not aware that hiring babysitters or any other servant is illegal,” he said.