Why hiring Indonesian maids is expensive

 

The cost to an employer of hiring a maid is expected to be capped at RM15,000.

GEORGE TOWN: Local employment agencies have defended the high fees they charge for Indonesian maids, saying they have to cover costs imposed by their Indonesian counterparts.

Before the Covid-19 pandemic, anyone wanting to hire an Indonesian maid had to pay between RM15,000 and RM16,000. About RM10,000 to RM12,000 of that figure went to Indonesian employment agencies, according to the president of the Malaysian Association of Employment Agencies, Foo Yong Hooi.

He told FMT Malaysian agents used the remainder for levy payments to the government, processing fees at the embassy, the transport of maids from airports, medical examinations, insurance, employment contracts and other costs.

“Malaysian agencies earn less than the Indonesian agencies, but we have to do a lot to bring Indonesian maids into the country,” he said.

He was commenting on Batu Kawan MP Kasthuri Patto’s call to Putrajaya to provide a detailed cost breakdown for the hiring of maids under the memorandum of understanding that Malaysia and Indonesia signed.

It is understood that the cost to an employer of hiring a maid will be capped at RM15,000.

The directors of two local agencies who wished to remain anonymous also told FMT that payments to Indonesian recruiters made up the bulk of the fees that Malaysian employers would have to pay.

One said the cost to an employer had been known to reach RM20,000, with half the sum going to Indonesian agents.

“The Indonesian agents will ask for around RM10,000, and they won’t provide the breakdown,” he said

“In Malaysia, different agents impose different charges to cover costs such as service fees, flight tickets, insurance, levy, medical examinations and transportation fees if these maids arrive in Johor or Kuala Lumpur.”

The other agent also said Indonesian agents would not provide the breakdown of recruitment costs at their end.

He said Malaysian private employment agencies, by contrast, were ready to provide cost breakdowns.

He said the cost of hiring an Indonesian maid was around RM15,000 before the pandemic, but there was, “in effect”, a free market.

“Each Indonesian agent fixes his own price, and there are hundreds of them. The Indonesian government can’t control the costs. If it did, there would eventually be no one supplying maids from the country,” he said. - FMT