These ladies receive the clients. Once the initial courtesies are done away with, usually in Arabic, the client’s requirements are noted down. Every labour recruitment agency specialises in certain nationalities and recruitment fees are determined by the nationality of the domestic worker. Fees range from a hefty AED 17,000 (US$4,630) for Indonesians (despite an ongoing recruitment ban from the country of origin) to AED 12,000 (US$3,270) for Indian or Sri Lankan workers, to much ‘cheaper’ options that include Ethiopians at AED 7,000. (US$1,910) and Ugandans at AED 6,000 (US$1,635). Despite the large variances in recruitment fees, the salaries for workers range only between AED 1,000 (US$270) for Ugandans and Ethiopians to AED 1,200 (US$330) for Indonesians and Indians. The legal minimum wage for domestic workers is determined by the origin country in most instances, as the UAE does not have a minimum wage regulation.
The clients, generally middle-aged couples (though often the husband does the hiring), are clear about their preferred nationality based on their past experiences or perceptions. Once they declare their preferences, including desirable skills such as languages or the ability to cook or take care of young babies, the desk manager summons the job seekers and they are made to line up in front of the desk, facing the manager and the client. They are asked to speak about themselves and answer prospective employers’ questions. At this point, they are also asked to remove their masks to show their faces. There is no CV or printed information to review. The job seekers do not get an opportunity to pose any questions to the ‘baba’ or ‘madam’. Once the customer chooses a ‘housemaid’, they can take her with them by paying a small deposit, as little as AED 5,000 (US$545), to ‘try’ her for a few days. At this point, the domestic worker is asked to quickly grab her personal things. She is also given her phone back, which had clearly been confiscated earlier.
Due to Covid-19 regulations, from March 2021 onwards the agency no longer brings all the jobseekers to the office every day. Women are taken to the office by rotation, while the remainder of the cohort stays back at the accommodation provided by the agency. Now when a client comes to the office, they can see some of the prospective employees or review videos of the other women with that particular agency. In the videos, the jobseeker is often seen wearing a uniform and answering the questions asked by her manager regarding her age, nationality, marital and family status, previous work experience, etc.
The Job Seeker
Diana* was asked to come from Kampala as quickly as she could.
“I contacted an agent in Kampala through a friend of mine and told him that I wanted to work in Dubai,” she says. “It was really difficult to make ends meet in Kampala. I have three children who live with my mother in a small town 100 miles from Kampala. They need to go to school.” Her husband is a small-time Coca-Cola vendor and makes just 20,000 Shillings (US$ 5.80) a day.”
“I had worked in Oman for two years for a salary of OR70 (US$ 182) a month, but Dubai was more promising as I could earn AED1,000 (US$ 273) per month,” she says, nervously excited. “So, I gave my passport to the agent without any hesitation, my visa was approved in just two days and the agent told me that my employer in Dubai has also been fixed. Without thinking twice, I borrowed some money and paid for my medical test, which included Covid-19, HIV, and pregnancy at a private clinic in Kampala.”
All the tests came out negative and on the 10 of January 2021, Diana was put on an Egypt Air flight via Cairo.
As she stepped out of the airport in the evening, she was expecting to be met by her employer but was instead received by an agent and taken to company accommodation where she was put up in a small room with five other women. Since she had a negative Covid certificate, Diana did not quarantine. In fact, almost all the women who come are tested for Covid in their home countries, so none of them underwent a quarantine period.
