New unified contract to regulate the rights and duties of domestic workers :: Gulf News

Link to the story.

Ironic that the new law takes effect on April 1st.

As with any law we have to ask not only what the law says, but also whether it will be enforced. Enforcement involves the desire to enforce the law, the capacity to enforce the law, and the willingness of most persons to respect the law.

The law is meant to prevent the abuse of domestic workers. The only way to effectively prevent abuse is to give domestic workers the right to change employers. Otherwise you are captive to your employer.

But allowing workers the right to change jobs is something that is not likely to considered in the UAE. That puts them one step closer to non-temporary residents, one step closer to citizenship under international standards.