The Malaysian Bar - Roundtable Conference: Domestic Workers: The Need for a Standard and Fair Contract

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Roundtable Conference: Domestic Workers: The Need for a Standard and Fair Contract

Wednesday, 15 July 2009 04:01pm

Contributed by Vilashini Vijayan

The Bar Council organised a Roundtable Conference on Domestic Workers on 8 July 2009. 36 participants attended the Roundtable including representatives from the Ministry of Human Resources, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development, the Session Court, the AG’s Chambers, the Royal Malaysia Police, foreign missions, NGOs and trade unions.

The Roundtable was organised by the Subcommittee on Migrants, Refugees and Immigration Affairs which is chaired by Dato’ Ramachelvam. The objective of the Roundtable was to address both the inadequate legal protection, as well as the absence of a standard employment contract in the hiring of foreign domestic workers and to recommend a standard employment contract to cover all domestic workers irrespective of their country of origin.

There were a total of 4 paper presentations. The Roundtable began with a welcome address by Dato’ Ramachelvam. The 1st paper presenter was, Mr. Ravi Nekoo a member of Malaysian Bar, presented a paper entitled “Protection Accorded Domestic Workers and the Need for Legal Reform”. He spoke about the need for a standard contract and suggested various terms that he feel could be incorporated from South African legislation on Domestic Workers.

Dato’ Raja Zulkepley Dahalan, President of PAPA (Persatuan Agensi Perkerja Asing) presented a paper entitled “Legal Reform - An Employers’ Perspective”. He addressed some of the concerns of employers and spoke about the difficulties faced by Malaysian recruitment agencies.

The Consul General of Philippines Embassy Mr. Renato Villa was next. In his paper entitled “Securing the Rights of Domestic Workers in Malaysia - The Filipino Experience” he explained how pressure and lobbying work of civil society groups in the Philippines had led to the Philippines Government to take a more active role in protecting Filipinos employed overseas.

Mr. Rajen Devaraj, in his paper entitled “The Need for a Standard and Fair Contract for Domestic Workers” said that it was not true to say that the Employment Act did not apply to Domestic Workers. He highlighted several Sections that did apply to Domestic Workers and suggested 24 items that should be part of a standard and fair contract for Domestic Workers.

The Roundtable generated much healthy discussion on the changes that were required. At the end of the Roundtable the President of Malaysian Bar issued a press statement entitled “State Intervention Needed for Domestic Workers”.

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