RIYADH: A service that allows the transfer of domestic laborers between employers via a government portal has been launched by Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development. The service is available through the Musaned platform, and is part of the ministry’s efforts to develop the domestic labor sector in the Kingdom, improve recruitment, safeguard workers’ rights, regulate contractual relationships, and ensure effective oversight. The employer will be responsible for the cost of the transfer, the ministry said. Individual citizens will be able to transfer domestic laborers from one employer to another through the portal, using simple and convenient electronic steps. The process follows the regulations, rules and conditions set for recruitment. All parties involved in the contractual relationship, the initial employer, the domestic worker and the new employer, must agree with the transfer in order to finalize it. Payment will be made through secure electronic channels on the platform, in accordance with prices set by the ministry. The rights of both the employer and the domestic worker will be protected in the process of transfer, the ministry said. A contract specifying the duration of employment will be issued, with clauses safeguarding the rights of both parties. The contract will have to be approved by both parties. Osama Ghanem Al-Obaidy, adviser and professor of law at the Institute of Public Administration in Riyadh, welcomed the initiative, saying it will improve recruitment of domestic workers in the Kingdom, and help to resolve complaints and grievances. The Musaned platform is one of the ministry’s initiatives to improve recruitment of domestic help in the Kingdom. In November 2022, the platform launched the second phase of a service documenting contracts of domestic workers in the Kingdom. The first phase of the service was launched outside Saudi Arabia and was aimed at domestic workers coming to work in the Kingdom. The second phase of the service included private employment contracts for domestic workers who do not have valid and documented employment contracts through the Musaned platform.