Psychiatric tests for maids for UAE hiring?

A proposal is being mulled for potential housemaids to the UAE to bring good conduct certificates as well as medical reports declaring them free of any mental illnesses from their home countries before they can land a job here.

Salem Al Nar Al Shehi, head of the Defense, the Interior and Foreign Affairs Committee in the Federal National Council, explained that a proposal would be submitted to the Federal National Council in the next session.

A report in Arabic daily Emarat Al Youm said that Al Shehi will also call for extending the warranty period of the recruitment offices for up to one year instead of three months.

Al-Shehi told the daily that there is a need to follow up on the psychological health of domestic workers particularly since the warranty submitted by labour supply offices ranges between three and four months only.

He added that there have been instances where such agencies have ensured that domestic workers are obedient during the test period, but later fled from their employers.

He noted that sponsors face significant financial losses for returning disobedient domestic workers after the warranty period.

He explained that a sponsor typically incurs between Dh15,000 and Dh20,000 for hiring a domestic worker through an agency, but s/he stands to lose that amount if the worker is found unfit to work after the initial warranty period.

He added that some domestic workers have caused severe problems due to lack of rehabilitation and lack of psychiatric examination, and that a database should be maintained of such workers.

He pointed out that the database must not be confined to the UAE but should be used across the GCC countries.

He noted that, at present, workers deported from the UAE, can enter some neighbouring countries and find jobs.

Al Shehi said that his proposal came after several meetings with citizens and residents to explore their opinions about problems facing domestic workers.

He pointed out that some people expressed a lack of confidence in the accuracy or validity of the information recorded in the passports of domestic workers, or any documents and certificates issued by their countries of origin.

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