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29 March 2024

Indian or Filipina? Sri Lankan or Nepali? What you must know before hiring a maid in Dubai

Published
By Shuchita Kapur

Hiring a maid in Dubai and the UAE at large requires a lot of paper and legwork now. It is solely the decision of the employer when it comes to how much s/he is willing to pay the house-help, but when we talk about this, it implies salary on the higher side.

You may be doing a lot of research about what to pay your housemaid and how to hire her, but here is a checklist of what all you need to do and rules/obligations that one can’t skip or overlook.

Consulates of the countries providing housemaids in the UAE have their different set of rules and requirements for individuals when it comes to hiring a maid, making it a bit confusing for the first timers.

If you need a salary and hiring guideline, the best thing is look at the minimum wage set and requirements by each country’s consulate/embassy in the UAE.

All embassies state that besides the minimum salary, the help is entitled to free food, accommodation and return airfare every year to visit their home country.
 
Requirements for hiring a Filipina Housemaid

Let’s being with the Philippines Embassy. Besides the numerous forms that you will be asked to fill in duplicate, the embassy requires something called Employer’s Information Sheet, which will basically give them details of the sponsor. The employer needs to provide an undertaking for the employment of a household service worker.

Minimum salary stared by the embassy for a Filipina maid is Dh1,400.

Requirements for hiring an Indian Housemaid

The requirements vary with the Indian embassy in the UAE. The intending employer (other than a UAE national) has to be accompanied by an Indian national, who can personally guarantee the character and the social standing of the intending employer. This also includes Indian nationals. An Indian hiring an Indian maid will also require a no-relation certificate from the embassy.

The Indian embassy requires a standard employment contract but this should be attested by the Notary Public, Ministry of Justice and Islamic Affairs and the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The minimum age of the house help should not be less than 30 years of age, so be wary of trying to hire anybody younger.

The minimum wage set by the Indian embassy is Dh1,100 per month, and a prepaid mobile phone with SIM card should be given to her on her arrival in the UAE.

There is also a mandatory refundable security deposit of Dh9,200 per maid. This is normally refunded after the final departure of the maid from UAE but money can be deducted from it if the maid complains of any dues to her that have not been cleared.

Requirements for hiring a Sri Lankan Housemaid

To hire a Sri Lankan maid, you need to meet some new requirements, which have been introduced sometime back. The maid now needs to undertake a mandatory training in her home country and also needs to clear a set of medical tests.

The Sri Lankan embassy also requires a refundable deposit of Dh3,675. This is a new addition. You also need an introducer and one of the forms should be filled in Sinhala or Tamil by the introducer.

The minimum salary of a Sri Lankan maid is set at Dh825 per month.

Requirements for hiring a Nepali Housemaid

To hire a Nepali housemaid, an employer has to submit a police clearance certificate to the Nepali embassy.

A Dh5,000 refundable security deposit must also be paid at the embassy and the minimum age bar to hire a Nepali housemaid is set at 30 years.

A minimum monthly salary Dh900 has been set by the Nepali embassy, in addition to food and accommodation.

Requirements for hiring a Bangladeshi Housemaid

For housemaids coming from Bangladesh, the embassy has set the minimum salary at Dh750 per month. The employer needs to fill an employment contract with the embassy, which states things like salary, vacation, air tickets, proper treatment of the help etc.

Requirements for hiring an Indonesian/Ethiopian Housemaids

Maids coming from Indonesia require a minimum salary of Dh800 per month. However, there is not much information available on the embassy’s website on the other requirements.
 

The embassy of Ethiopia doesn’t have any information on hiring maids in the UAE.

What is stated above is something that employers choosing to hire a maid from a respective country need to comply with.

However, “minimum wage” and “market rate” are very different and in many cases, if employers are happy with their house help, they wouldn’t mind paying them anything between Dh1,500 to Dh2,000, which is now a going rate especially in New Dubai areas.