Hi there, it has been a while since my last entry for this blog.
I was advised by the lecturer to write something relevant to the course itself, and so I decided to expand my research on the labour law issues, but this time round, I am not going to look into the Child Labour Law, but in particular of the issue that often raised in my home country.
In Malaysia, having maids at home is common since the past 10years. However, there’re some issues that rose constantly throughout the years, where the maid got abused or tortured by their employer. This can be treated as inhumanity. Those employers who got caught give excuses such as, maid being stubborn, maid didn’t do their work accordingly etc. etc. causing the employer lose their temper and taken abusive action against them without realizing it.
Those are thousands of cases of maid abuse each year in Malaysia, with at least 1,200 maids running away from their employers' homes every month.
Rights and labour groups in the country said the rise in abuse cases showed an urgent need for the government to amend labour laws.
Currently, domestic workers are the only group of employees who are excluded from benefits accorded to workers under the country's employment act, commented by the vice president of the Malaysian Trades Union Congress. Domestic maids don't get set working hours, termination benefits, sick leave, rest days, public holidays, maternity leave, overtime and every other benefit a normal employee is entitled to. They are the most unprotected and vulnerable workers.
Following recent high-profile abuse cases, Indonesian ministers and top officials scheduled talks with their Malaysian counterparts regarding the continued supply of domestic workers.
Indonesian officials said the country may consider temporarily halting its supply of maids to Malaysia to protest what appeared to be a lack of government commitment to protect them.
Almost 85 per cent of the country's 350,000 maids are from Indonesia, followed by the Philippines and other South-East Asian countries. Indonesians also make up the bulk of tens of thousands of illegal maids who enter the country each year.
Aside from the abuse cases, officials from Malaysia and Indonesia are expected to iron out the issue of the Indonesian maids' low wages of 500 ringgit (136 dollars) a month, which is half of what maids from the Philippines earn.
In neighbouring Singapore, Indonesian maids are paid a minimum of 800 ringgit while Hong Kong and Taiwan employers pay them a minimum of 1,300 ringgit.
The reason given for their lower wages is that most Indonesian workers in Malaysia lack work experience, and also a basic command of English.
Up till date, there is no effective law or any specific action that has been taken to overcome the problem of abuse of immigrant worker in particular. However, the Indonesian officials said the country may consider temporarily halting its supply of maids to Malaysia to protest what appeared to be a lack of government commitment to protect them.
Foreign domestic workers here are highly vulnerable. They lack legal protection, which subjects them to any kind of working condition an employer sees fit.
The government has to improve the law and make legal amendments to better protect the workers. It is only when domestic workers are recognized as workers and protected through effective legislation that we can say justice is done.
The immigrant worker deserve a justice for themselves.Malaysians should take this issue seriously to fight against this inhumanity.
References from several online sources:
Raychelle, CM TAN
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