RM7K minimum household income can be reassessed, says HR minister

 

Human Resource Minister M Saravanan said provisions in the domestic worker memorandum of understanding (MOU) between Malaysia and Indonesia that were facing implementational obstacles will be revisited every three months.

He said a joint working group with representatives from both countries would meet every three months to tackle implementational problems.

For example, the minimum qualifying household income threshold of RM7,000 to hire a domestic helper could be reconsidered by the working group, said Saravanan.

“This is to ensure that clauses like the minimum household income of RM7,000 are working for all parties, including potential employers.

“If employers could not afford it, I will ask the Indonesian Ministry of Manpower to drop the minimum threshold.

“If they don’t, there is a chance that workers will come into the country through ‘rat lanes’ (lorong tikus) and fall into the forced labour trap,” he cautioned.

Saravanan explained that failing to address such issues could amount to the ministry’s endorsement of forced labour.

Provisions that govern the role and functions of the joint working group are stipulated in Appendix G of the MOU for the employment and protection of Indonesian migrant domestic workers in Malaysia signed by both countries on April 1.

Among the eight roles listed in the MOU, the joint working group could propose revisions, modifications and amendments to the terms and conditions of the contract of employment.

It would also be able to make similar recommendations of revisions to any of the appendices to the MOU.

However, any revision, modification or amendments made could only take effect upon the agreement of all parties.

Threshold set by Indonesian embassy

Speaking at a press conference yesterday, Saravanan responded to questions on the RM7,000 threshold revealed by the Indonesian ambassador to Malaysia, Hermono, to Malaysiakini on April 10.

Indonesian ambassador to Malaysia, Hermono

It was noted that this figure was not disclosed in the MOU but instead it entrusted the Indonesian mission in Malaysia to determine the threshold.

According to Hermono, the permanent members of the joint working group from Indonesia are representatives of the Manpower Ministry, Foreign Ministry, the Agency for the Protection of Indonesian Migrant Workers and the Indonesian Embassy.

At the press conference, Saravanan also cleared the confusion over costs where employers would have to pay more than RM15,000 to employ an Indonesian domestic worker.

He said if anything, it should be lower as employers no longer needed to pay for quarantine and Covid-19 PCR (polymerase chain reaction) testing.

Owing to this, he said the costs in Malaysia had dropped from RM9,000 to RM6,000 while the costs in Indonesia were estimated at between RM4,000 and RM5,000, resulting in the total cost at around RM10,000 to RM11,000. - Mkini