Putrajaya intends new Act specifically for domestic workers

INTERVIEW | Putrajaya will formulate a specific Act to cover domestic workers to provide better protection for maids, said Human Resources Minister M Kulasegaran.

"We are looking at a (new) Act itself on maids," he told the media during a group interview to commemorate the first year anniversary of the Pakatan Harapan administration.

While he did not reveal the details of the bill and how soon the new bill can be expected to be tabled in Parliament, Kulasegaran said his ministry will come up with interim measures to safeguard the welfare of domestic workers.

Under the interim measure, he said, his ministry would amend the relevant regulations in the amendment of the Employment Act 1955.

"There are a lot of safeguards for the maids. (We will spell out the) duty and function (of the domestic workers)."

"But this is the interim (measure) until we get a new Act by itself to govern this area," he added.

He was asked about the calls to review migrant workers' laws following the acquittal of MAS Ambika of murder charges following the death of her Indonesian maid, Adelina Lisao.

Adelina was reportedly forced to sleep at the front porch, along with the family dog.

The 26-year-old domestic worker was kept at the porch for a month, and suffered noticeable bruises on her body when she was rescued and rushed to the hospital on Feb 10, 2018.

Adelina died the next day. A postmortem attributed her death to multiple organ failure.

Aside from Ambika's murder charge, her daughter R Jayavartiny had also been charged for allegedly employing Adelina without valid documentation.

According to Kulasegaran, the amendment of Employment Act is expected to be among the seven amendment bills to be tabled in the next Dewan Rakyat sitting in July.

Other bills to be amended are: Minimum Standards of Housing and Amenities Act 1990 and the Occupational Safety and Health Act 1994, Sabah Labour Ordinance, Sarawak Labour Ordinance, Industrial Relations Act 1967, Trade Unions Act 1959, Minimum Standard of Housing and Amenities Act 1990, and Private Recruitment Agencies Act 1981.

Kulasegaran said his 'greatest sadness' was he failed to push for the seven bills to be tabled in Dewan Rakyat for first reading in March sitting as planned.

This is because he did not realise the engagement and consultation process with stakeholders would take more time than anticipated.

He said the process is now 90 percent completed and that the ministry would bring the proposed amendments of these bill to the cabinet for approval soon.

Besides a new bill on domestic workers, he said, the ministry would also propose a new bill to allow Socso coverage for 1.4 million housewives. - Mkini