UAE job agency ordered to refund Dh23,000 in fees after maids run away

Abu Dhabi - When efforts to settle the matter amicably failed, the employer decided to take the recruitment agency to court.

The Abu Dhabi Court of First Instance has ordered a recruitment agency to refund Dh23,000 in recruitment fees paid to them by a resident, after two housemaids he hired ran away from his home before their probation period had elapsed.

The Arab employer had paid the money to the recruitment agency for providing him two Filipino maids.

But the two women worked for the family for only three months before running away from his home, which was in breach of the employment contract for domestic workers. The contract specified that they had to work for the family for the probation period of six months before they could leave or switch jobs.

The agent was required to refund the employer’s recruitment fees if the work contract was breached.

After running away from the employer’s home, the man went to the recruitment firm and asked the officials there to either provide him with two other housemaids or refund the cash he had paid for hiring the Filipino maids.

The agent, however, refused to return the money and failed to offer replacements for the runaway housemaids.

When efforts to settle the matter amicably failed, the employer decided to take the recruitment agency to court.

He demanded that the firm pay him Dh37,910, which included the recruitment fees he paid to them for hiring the two maids in addition to other charges.

The employer had presented documents that included copies from the referral document issued by the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation, indicating the recruitment agency’s inability to fulfil their agreement with the employer and lack of cooperation.

In their defence, the recruitment firm had demanded that the lawsuit be rejected, under the claim that the contract limited the probation period to three months, which had lapsed before the two maids ran away.

The court rejected their claims and ordered the firm to refund the fees of Dh23,000, which the man had paid to them. The firm was also told to pay legal expenses.

ismail@khaleejtimes.com

• Abu Dhabi