The Sri Lanka Foreign Employment Bureau has taken steps to introduce a new insurance policy from the 15th of January 2023 to protect women engaged in domestic employment in the Middle East.
Accordingly, the Bureau said the employer hiring the Sri Lankan must obtain the insurance and the insurance certificate must be provided by the employee in order to obtain registration at the SLFBE for foreign employment.
The SLFBE said female domestic workers in Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia can select a suitable insurance policy from the approved insurance schemes.
The Bureau noted that employers must pay USD 110-140 to obtain the insurance for women who travel overseas for employment for a period of two years in the above mentioned countries, while upon the extension of the contract period the insurance premium will increase.
During the employment period, in the event the employee passes away or is permanently disabled due to an accident, a sum of USD 15,000 will be provided to the employee as insurance compensation, and if partially disabled due to an accident a sum of USD 10,000 will be awarded through the insurance scheme.
In addition, the insurance scheme will also provide medical cover for surgeries and epidemic illnesses such as COVID-19 while if a female is at a safe house, a daily compensation figure of USD 10 will be provided for expenses.
The foreign insurance scheme will be mandatory from the 15th of January 2023 and will apply to all females signing new service contracts for the Middle Eastern region.
