Groups: Remove domestic work from exemptions under Employment Act

 

Proposed amendments under the Employment Act 1955 are inadequate to protect "domestic servants" as changing the term to "domestic employees" does not remove their status as informal workers exempted from basic rights, including off days and set hours of work.

International Domestic Workers Federation (IDWF) field officer Bariyah, who goes by a single name, said the current term of "domestic servant" or "domestic employee" in the proposed amendments - along with other categories of exempted informal workers - are listed under the First Schedule of the Employment Act.

"Basic issues are being denied - one rest day a week, not allowed to have a handphone and no minimum wage will remain unresolved.

"We are concerned that despite the change in terms from domestic servant to domestic employee, the exemptions will remain under the first schedule without any amendment," Bariyah said during an online interview with Malaysiakini.

She noted that issues surrounding basic rights and benefits have also contributed to unfavourable working conditions for domestic workers.

For example, she said, a domestic employee denied permission to own a mobile phone and to her right for a day off, will have little access to seek help if caught in an exploitative condition.

"To this day there are still domestic workers being paid a salary of RM600, when the minimum wage in Malaysia is RM1,200 a month," she added.

The Employment (Amendment) Bill 2021 tabled for first reading in Parliament on Oct 25 was proposed amid a larger call on the government to address forced labour concerns in various industries - a situation which had led to several international actions and Malaysia's downgrade to Tier 3 in the US State Department's annual report on human trafficking. 

The proposed amendments, among others, are to comply with standards and practices as required by the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement, the Malaysia-United States Labour Consistency Plan and the International Labour Organisation.

Aside from the manufacturing and plantation sectors, Bariyah said domestic employees are also at risk of being trapped in conditions with indicators of forced labour in their households.

"So it would be interesting to discuss forced labour not only in the context of what is usually reported, involving glove makers and other large industries," she added.

 'Technically, they are not workers'

Meanwhile, Indonesian Migrant Domestic Workers Association (Pertimig) representative Nasrikah Sarah said various groups through the Labour Reform Committee had presented their recommendations since as early as 2018 under the then Pakatan Harapan administration.

"Even for this current amendment bill we have given our input, as well as other proposals on regulations to protect domestic workers," Nasrikah said.

When contacted, Klang MP Charles Santiago said the First Schedule must be amended in order to recognise domestic work as formal work eligible for protection under the Act.

"Currently they are not defined as domestic workers, they are domestic servants.

"So, technically, as far as the law is concerned, they are not workers. If they are not workers, the Employment Act does not apply to them," Charles told Malaysiakini.

IDWF, Pertimig and other grassroots associations working for domestic workers' rights had in the past supported calls for enactment of a separate Domestic Workers Act, including the migrant rights group Tenaganita's Kakak Juga Pekerja campaign, which was launched in March this year.  - Mkini