Kuwait City: Kuwait has set a minimum wage for its hundreds of thousands of mostly Asian domestic staff, the first country in the Gulf to do so, local media reported on Thursday.

A decree issued by Interior Minister Shaikh Mohammad Khaled Al Sabah set the minimum wage at 60 dinars (Dh729) a month and also granted domestic staff a raft of other rights, Al-Anbaa newspaper reported.

Kuwait is the first country in the Gulf to regulate the work conditions of domestic staff and Human Rights Watch and other rights groups have urged others to follow suit.

The decree, which implements landmark legislation adopted by parliament last year, also requires employers to pay overtime for any extra hours worked.

It grants domestic workers the right to a weekly day off, 30 days of annual paid leave, a 12-hour working day with rest, and an end-of-service benefit of one month a year at the end of contract.