Contract problems for migrant domestic workers in Malaysia

29 maids denied full rights

Posted on 3 July 2012 - 09:22pm
Last updated on 4 July 2012 - 08:50am

Alyaa Alhadjri The Sun Daily

PETALING JAYA (July 3, 2012): The 29 domestic helpers from East Java are being denied their full rights as the employment contract which they signed with the maid agencies is “different” from the one approved by both governments. 

They were brought in by the Malaysian Association of Foreign Maid Agencies (Papa) and have been working in Malaysia for a month.

Their arrival precedes a group of another four workers brought in by the National Association of Employment Agencies (Pikap) on June 25, reportedly with approval from the Indonesian Embassy here.

theSun sighted copies of both the employment contracts allegedly issued to the 29 maids (Document A) and the one signed by the subsequent four maids with their respective agencies (Document B).

Indonesian embassy spokesman Suryana Sastradiredja told theSun that he possessed similar copies of both employment contracts. “It is quite clear that there are missing elements or changes made to the employment contract signed by the 29 workers,” said Suryana. He also confirmed that the contracts signed by the four maids were legitimate and have been vetted by all relevant parties from both governments. 

Some of the major differences between the two documents are:

>> Unlike Document B, Document A has no official stamps of the Indonesian Embassy and the Peninsular Malaysia Labour Department on all pages.

>> Also, the last page of Document A was not signed and stamped by the Indonesian National Body for Manpower Placement and Protection head from the domestic helper’s origin district, or the Indonesian Embassy Labour Attache Agus Triyanto.

>> According to Document A, an employer shall grant a domestic helper four off-days in one month or pay RM25 in lieu of every off-day not taken. In Document B, a domestic worker is entitled to one rest day every week or be paid a sum equivalent to her monthly wage divided by 26 days.

>> It is not stated in Document A that an employer should allow the domestic worker to keep her passport, documents or personal possessions should they wish to do so.

>> It is also not stated wages should be banked in directly into the worker’s bank account.

Suryana pointed out these differences clearly contradicted agreements reached under the memorandum of understanding signed between both governments in May last year. The status of the 29 workers remained questionable as the Indonesian government insisted that the agencies involved in bringing them in had failed to comply with necessary procedures. On the other hand, Human Resources Ministry officials, including its secretary-general Datuk Seri Zainal Rahim Seman, have maintained that the agencies had done no wrong. Attempts to contact Papa president Jeffrey Foo have failed. He had previously claimed that the confusion was caused by a mere “procedural mistake” as it has been three years since Indonesia imposed the freeze on sending its citizens to work as maids in Malaysia.