KUALA TERENGGANU: Abuse of foreign workers can only be curbed through legal protection and not training, as proposed by the Malaysian Association of Foreign Maid Agencies (Papa).
CARAM Asia, a regional coalition of migrant rights groups, said it was better for the Malaysian government to amend the Employment Act to protect the rights of maids.Papa had recently proposed that employers should attend a one-day course on their responsibilities and duties to curb abuses. The proposal came in the wake of allegations by an Indonesian maid, Siti Hajar, that she had been abused by her employer over the past three years. CARAM Asia Regional Coordinator Cynthia Gabriel yesterday suggested there be a comprehensive standard contract stating terms and condition of work, with a well defined job scope and a minimum wage. There should also be a prohibition on employers or agents keeping a maid's passport and other personal legal documents, she said.
Gabriel said under the Malaysian Employment Act 1955, foreign domestic workers were defined as "servants" and as such were excluded from regulations relating to such issues as rest days, hours of work, and termination benefits."And it doesn't help that maids are the lowest paid workers. Because their passports and other legal documents are held by employers or agents, they risk arrest by the immigration services and Rela if they attempt to leave their employers to seek protection."We are also concerned that their job scope is defined by employers. In many cases, they find themselves working not only in the employer's house but also in the homes of the employers' relatives, restaurants and other business outlets owned by their employer."As a result, some of them have to work as long as 16 hours a day, seven days a week without a break in a year. "Amending Malaysia's domestic legislation would also be in line with international labour and human rights standards," she said.
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