©Malaysiakini (Used by permission)
by Annabelle Lee
Experts have urged Putrajaya to enact legislation to protect domestic workers in the country because existing laws, guidelines and bilateral agreements have failed to do so.
“We need binding instruments because current laws do not protect domestic workers in this country,” M Ramachelvam said while chairing the “Consultation on Domestic Workers in Malaysia” roundtable at the Bar Council Secretariat in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.
Ramachelvam has led the Bar Council’s Migrants, Refugees and Immigration Affairs Committee (MRIAC) for the last 11 years.
The Ministry of Human Resources, the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam), local and international labour rights NGOs and the Bar Council came together at the roundtable to analyse “Guidelines and Tips for Employers of Foreign Domestic Workers”, a book that was launched by Human Resources Minister Richard Riot Jaem in May.
Representing the ministry was Labour Department assistant director Madanjit Singh, who explained the idea behind the book.
“We took a long time – two years to come up with these guidelines. We wanted to go with a more persuasive approach… the idea is we hope the guidelines will slowly be absorbed into the law,” Madanjit said.
The 71–page book, available in English and Malay, encourages readers to be “good employers” by ensuring their employees understand clearly their employment contract and the list the tasks expected of them.
However, the guidelines are less explicit in some parts, such as dealing with allegations of sexual harassment and determining the ideal number of work hours.
The book was developed by the ministry and the International Labour Organisation (ILO), with input from Malaysian employers of foreign domestic helpers.
"While I congratulate the ministry for launching this book of guidelines, we expect these guidelines to be translated to regulation very soon. Hopefully, it won’t take two years,” Ramachelvam said.
Asked if the book would be distributed to all employers of domestic workers, Madanjit said only limited copies of the book had been printed, and he therefore called on employers and NGOs to “download it online”.
Annalissa Galdo of the Association of Nationalist Overseas Filipino Workers disagreed with Madanjit, saying the book should be distributed to all domestic workers when they arrived at airports in Malaysia.
“And how slow is slow? When will these guidelines be converted into law?” she asked.
Other participants at the roundtable also voiced their disapproval, saying the voices of domestic workers themselves had been excluded from the guidelines.
“What workers receive should not need to depend on the goodwill of employers. Domestic workers need real rights and protection,” said Susanna George, who co–authored the latest guidelines with Madanjit.
“The book does not call them workers, but ‘domestic helpers’. This is a compromise, for there is nothing here to protect domestic workers,” lamented K Somasundram of the Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC).
Employer attitudes were key obstacles to protecting domestic workers, argued Meri Ahlberg, a consultant with the International Labour Organisation’s regional office in Bangkok.
“Most employers think that an eight–hour working day is not appropriate for their domestic workers, whose average working hours is 14.36 hours a day.
“Only eight percent of Malaysian employers feel that domestic workers have the right to leave the house.
“Most also find it appropriate to hold on to their domestic worker’s personal documents, therefore affecting their freedom of movement,” she said.
Many also restricted their workers’ mobile phone use and thought maternity leave, as well as old age pension, were unnecessary for domestic workers, Ahlberg said as she presented her paper, titled “Worker, Helper, Aunty, Maid?” at the roundtable.
Madanjit responded, saying he would review the book, taking into account all the feedback he received.
Workers, not servants
The Employment Act 1955 has a section concerning “domestic servants” (Section 11) that rules on the terms how either the employer or employee may terminate a contract.
In his opening address at the roundtable, Suhakam chairperson Razali Ismail stressed the importance of treating domestic workers as workers and nothing less.
“We need to get rid of the nomenclature ‘servant’,” Razali said.
Terminology issues aside, Ramachelvam stressed another problem with the law.
“None of the other provisions in the Employment Act apply to domestic workers.
“We need binding instruments because current laws do not protect domestic workers in this country,” he said.
Even the mandatory day off included in the Act was not extended to domestic workers, foreign or local.
“Domestic workers have no working time restrictions; the reality is that they are on ‘standby’ all the time.
“We have to make sure the one day off is mandatory,” said Adrian Pereira from Petaling Jaya–based NGO North–South Initiative (NSI).
Aside from those mentioned above, representatives from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the Myanmar government, the Indian government, the United States government, Women’s Aid Organisation (WAO), the Malaysian Association of Foreign Maid Agencies (Papa) as well as labour organisations and NGOs from Indonesia, the Philippines and Malaysia were also present.
All feedback collected at the roundtable would be incorporated into the recommendations to make at the Asean forum on migrant labour, which will take place in the Philippines in November, Ramachelvan said.