New deal to protect Indon maids
May 14, 2006 
malaysiakini.com

Malaysia and Indonesia have signed a deal which will offer better protection from abuse for Indonesian maids, a report said today.

Malaysia depends heavily on foreign maids but they enjoy little protection under labour laws. The maids often live in and work all day every day to earn less than RM400 a month.

"Although the problems involved only a small number, this MoU (memorandum of understanding) will settle the issue once and for all as the Indonesians were worried," Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi was quoted as telling reporters in Bali, by the Star daily.

"We just want them (maids) to come and work for us, so please take care of them as they are also human beings," he said.

Under the agreement employers will be required to sign personal contracts with their maids stipulating the wages agreed upon by both parties, said the report.

Copies of the contract must then be sent to the Indonesian embassy, it added.

The maids, who must sign a letter of acceptance before they can start work, may also open a bank account under their own names.

Employers are also barred from withholding pay for the first four or five months of a contract as often happens in practice now. Agents frequently take money and say it is to recover costs incurred in bringing the maids in from Indonesia.

The deal will not affect the 310,000 Indonesian maids already working in Malaysia, but employers will need to abide by the new arrangements when renewing their maids' two-year contracts.

No increase in pay

The signing of the deal was witnessed by Abdullah and Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono yesterday.

The two countries have been locked in negotiations over the problems faced my maids since 2002, but had previously failed to reach an agreement.

One stumbling block had been Indonesia's bid to secure a minimum monthly wage of RM500, a demand which appears to have been dropped.

An Indonesian maid at the centre of a high-profile abuse case recently told a Malaysian court that she was repeatedly branded on the breasts with a hot iron for failing to iron her employer's clothes properly.

The employer faces a maximum jail term of 20 years if found guilty.

Rights activists have urged employers to provide maids with a weekly holiday, protection from abuse and a minimum wage. They say any labor agreement must ensure the right of workers to a fair minimum wage and a 24-hour rest period per week. - AFP