Indonesian domestic workers: First batch of 8 arrived, 23k in process

 

The first batch of eight Indonesian domestic workers arrived on Monday while 23,000 others are being processed to be matched with Malaysian employers, said the country’s top envoy.

Indonesian ambassador to Malaysia, Hermono, who goes by a single name, said these workers would be the first to enjoy the progressive new clauses in the bilateral agreement between Malaysia and Indonesia.

The two countries signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on the Employment and Protection of Indonesian Domestic Workers on April 1.

“These eight women whose contracts introduced under the MOU will work according to their respective job scope, earn a minimum wage of RM1,500 and be able to take a day off every week,” he said.

The standards set in the new contract for Indonesian domestic workers are the first of the kind in the country for workers in this sector, which include timely payment of wages and consequences to failing to do so will incur employers an additional five percent of the total unpaid wages, as compensation.

The continued failure to pay wages for two consecutive months will give the domestic worker the right to terminate the contract of employment.

However, according to the MOU document, termination of the employment contract in this instance will not relieve the employer of their contractual duty to pay the outstanding wages and compensation would be imposed by the court.

To ensure that salaries are met, the MOU has set the minimum qualifying household income at RM7,000.

One Channel System full operation soon

Hermono said the application processing commenced soon after the inking of the MOU on April 1 but was done manually as the One Channel System was not fully operational yet.

On July 28, a joint statement issued by Indonesian Manpower Minister Ida Fauziyah and Human Resources Minister M Saravanan revealed that a joint technical team would carry out the systems integration.

This would combine the online system operated by the Indonesian Mission in Malaysia and the system operated by Malaysia’s Immigration Department.

Since the inking of the MOU, domestic worker applications had been processed manually by the Indonesian embassy as Malaysia had not yet put forward a chosen system that would be integrated into the One Channel System.

They said this integration would form the One Channel System mechanism for the recruitment and placement of Indonesian domestic workers in Malaysia and was expected to be fully operational in mid-August this year.

A pilot project would also be carried out to ensure the smooth reliability of the integrated system.

Hermono said the 23,000 domestic workers would be introduced into the pilot project. - Mkini