Indian nanny in Sharjah works without holidays, gets ‘slavery wages’ as salary: ‘Doesn’t speak English’

The post highlighted the South Indian woman, who lives in Sharjah, looks after two children, handles all the household chores and prepares every meal for the family

A post shared on Reddit has sparked discussion about the difficult working conditions faced by domestic workers in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The post, shared by a user recounting their aunt’s ordeal, describes her life as an Indian live-in nanny in Sharjah.

The Redditor, in the post, shared that her aunt gets paid just around 1,050 dirhams (Rs 25,000) a month -- with no weekly offs and limited personal freedom.

The post highlighted the South Indian woman, who lives in Sharjah, looks after two children, handles all the household chores and prepares every meal for the family.

“My aunt is a live-in nanny in Sharjah. She takes care of 2 kids, does all the house chores and prepares all the food,” the Reddit user wrote.

Although she works long hours, she allegedly has no fixed day off and is required to work every day of the month. Her employers, the post claimed, might “allow her 1-3 hours of leave” once a month if she requests to meet her relatives.

“She’s got no day off and once in a month if she asks to come visit us they would be like nah and maybe they’ll allow 1-3hrs. She gets paid around 1050 dhs (25000 indian rupees) monthly,” the post read.

While the family who she lives with has sponsored her visa, the post has raised various questions over working conditions for domestic workers in the UAE.

“I pay 3k, flight home every year, food and she has at least 1 day off a week where she stays somewhere else,” a Reddit user said.

“In Sharjah, not speaking English restricts the options a lot. Best would be learning the language until the end of the contract and move to Dubai to look for a better position,” another suggested.

"This is slavery. You should report it to authorities," a third added.