'Kakak Juga Pekerja' campaign: Groups seek recognition for domestic helpers

 

Groups fighting for recognition of domestic work as formal work under the Employment Act 1955 have launched its Kakak Juga Pekerja campaign in conjunction with International Women's Day 2021.

The groups - Tenaganita, Persatuan Sahabat Wanita Selangor and Empower Malaysia - urged the government to amend the First Schedule of the Employment Act 1955 to remove explicit discrimination against domestic workers, a job almost exclusively dominated by women.

Tenaganita executive director Glorene Das said the call to remove Subsection 2(1)(5) of the First Schedule will affect an estimated 200,000 domestic workers, comprising both locals and migrants, as well as undocumented migrants still in employment here.

Under the current legislation, domestic workers are listed as an exemption to workers granted rights, from the most basic of labour rights like hours of work, rest days, conditions of service and even maternity benefits.

"We, the undersigned, want legislation that reflects the principles of decent work with an emphasis on rights-based without gender discrimination.

"This is instead of the colonial practice of status-based employment relationship, to recognise domestic workers’ human dignity as persons worthy of rights and respect," said the groups in a statement released after the online campaign launch today.

Tenaganita executive director Glorene Das.

They further called for two other amendments to the Employment Act, for all domestic workers to be accorded their equal rights regardless of their legal status and gender, as well as to replace the classification of "servant" used to address domestic workers, with the word "employee".

At the same time, they called on the government to ratify the International Labour Organisation Convention on Domestic Workers, as well as the ILO Convention on Violence and Harassment, to provide legal protection and spell out the rights of a domestic worker.

'Nona's fate still in limbo'

Meanwhile, Tenaganita representative Joseph Paul Maliamauv narrated the story of Nona (not her real name), an undocumented worker who fled from her errant employer and had sought refuge at the organisation's shelter since 2017. 

Tenaganita had assisted Nona to claim over RM30,000 in unpaid wages but their initial attempt to file a case at the Port Klang Labour Court was dismissed in August 2018, due to her undocumented status. 

Almost a year later, Shah Alam High Court judge Azizah Nawawi, who presided over Tenaganita's appeal, ruled that the Labour Court had acted prematurely to dismiss Nona's claim against her employer, identified by the court documents as Angee Lee. 

She also ruled that the Labour Court must hear an undocumented worker's case.

Joseph Paul today said that Nona's employers had filed an appeal at the Court of Appeal against the High Court ruling, and an objection filed by Tenaganita had been overruled.

"If the employer's appeal at the COA is rejected, then Nona can go back to the Labour Court, although of course there is no guarantee she will win.

"On the other hand, if the appeal is accepted, that would be the end of the road for Nona," he said.

Nona previously said she was paid RM550 a month for over four years until 2017, an amount lower than the RM700 she was promised by an agent before her departure from East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia, a province that recorded a high number of human trafficking victims and deaths among workers sent to Malaysia. 

Malaysiakini understands that the appeal will be heard in October this year. -  Mkini