Govt did not agree to RM1,500 pay for Indonesian maids, says Saravanan

 

Malaysia and Indonesia signed the MoU on the placement and protection of Indonesian domestic workers on April 1.

PETALING JAYA: The government did not agree to the RM1,500 salary for Indonesian maids as per the memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Indonesia, says human resources minister M Saravanan.

He said that during discussions with Jakarta, the government did not agree to pay maids RM1,500 because the minimum wage in Malaysia at the time was still only RM1,200.

According to a copy of the MoU sighted by FMT, employers have to pay the domestic workers “not less than RM1,500” directly into the workers’ bank accounts no later than the seventh day of the following month.

Indonesian ambassador to Malaysia, Hermono, has also gone on record to state that Indonesian maids should get RM1,500 as per the MoU.

However, Saravanan said he was in no position to agree to a RM1,500 minimum salary.

“I couldn’t agree to RM1,500 even when Indonesia urged us to increase it,” he said at a press conference today.

“If the employer can pay RM1,500 then it is up to them. But from the MoU it starts with RM1,200,” he said.

He said, however, that the salaries of Indonesian maids will rise to RM1,500 in line with the increase in the minimum wage on May 1.

An additional 5% of the total unpaid wages is added as compensation if wages are not paid on time, and the failure to pay wages for two consecutive months will give the domestic workers the right to terminate their employment contract.

Meanwhile, Saravanan said the country is planning to bring in 10,000 maids from Indonesia after Hari Raya.He also said he is talking to other countries like Vietnam, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bangladesh to bring in maids.

Touching on the minimum household income of RM7,000 to employ a maid as set out by Hermono, Saravanan said he would monitor the implementation of this condition as the high bar may encourage maids to enter the country illegally.

“We will look at the implementation to see if RM7,000 is too high. Maybe we will ask for it to be lowered. Otherwise, the issue of forced labour will continue in our country,” he said.

On the recruitment of Bangladeshi workers, Saravanan said that the government had never agreed to bring in 500,000 Bangladeshi workers as some quarters had claimed.

It was previously reported that the government was expecting 500,000 Bangladeshi workers to arrive in Malaysia starting this month.

However, Saravanan clarified that out of 519,937 applicants, 40,000 were rejected because they did not fulfil the criteria. - FMT