Foreign housekeepers on Sept. 24 last year attend a meeting on the trial project for international housekeepers in Seoul at a conference room of the life services company Home Story Life in Seoul's Gangnam-gu District. (Yonhap News)

By Koh Hyunjeong

The pilot project for Philippine housekeepers run by the Ministry of Employment and Labor and the Seoul Metropolitan Government will be extended for a year.

The ministry on Feb. 14 said the Foreign Workforce Policy Committee approved strategies to promote the project's direction and future plans containing such content.

The extension was based on the high satisfaction of both the housekeepers and the households that employed them as well as fairness with other workers on the E-9 (non-professional employee) visa.

The ministry and the city also said they extended the program by a year to prevent inconvenience for the estimated 180 households and their 98 housekeepers.

Working conditions will remain the same including the minimum 30 workhours per week and minimum wage. Housekeepers from next month can also choose to live in their own accommodations.

hjkoh@korea.kr