05 May 2014 - Leading up to Labor Day on May 1, 2014, the Philippine Embassy in Riyadh held refresher courses and seminars over the past month for all Embassy and attached services personnel on various laws and regulations affecting Filipinos in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Philippine Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Ezzedin Tago explained, “The seminars are part of our efforts to ensure our Embassy personnel are fully equipped to help our nationals within the framework of the local laws.  We must constantly and regularly update our personnel on changes in laws and regulations that affect our nationals especially on the international level, and within the Kingdom and the Philippines.  We are doing this first at the level of our personnel before our officials embark on some outreach missions to update our nationals on laws that affect them.”

The lectures and seminars were conducted by Labor Attaché Rustico Dela Fuente and spanned three days focusing on the Saudi Labor Law and its recent amendments, changes in the residency regulations and penalties for violations, the Philippines-Saudi Arabia agreement on domestic workers, and Royal Decree 310 approving the codified framework for the protection of household service workers (HSWs).

Labor Attaché Dela Fuente reminded personnel about the recently launched website (www.musaned.gov.sa) by the Saudi Ministry of Labor that focuses on HSWs.The website contains a comprehensive brochure in various languages, including Tagalog.  The Embassy earlier circulated the brochures, and posted copies around the Embassy.

It was also explained that under Saudi regulations, household workers in all categories are now entitled to file their complaints through Grievance Committees with the Saudi Ministry of Labor.

The Embassy will soon conduct similar courses for community members, and will harness online platforms for the disseminaiton of advisories and new regulations. END