‘Malaysia-Cambodia domestic workers deal should include minimum wage’

Migrant rights groups questioned the government's commitment to end exploitation of domestic workers after the latest bilateral agreement signed with Cambodia made no mention of a minimum wage.

When contacted, Tenaganita executive director Glorene A Das said while Malaysia joined the list of many countries with labour laws that excluded domestic workers from being paid a minimum wage, such a provision should be included in bilateral agreements between governments.

"Minimum wage is important as it protects the most vulnerable group of workers like domestic workers from exploitation and being placed in a possible debt bondage situation.

"Including a minimum wage in agreements such as the MOU between the source country and destination countries simply shows that both countries recognise the tremendous contribution of domestic workers to homes and societies.

"It is an essential measure to ensure the principle of equal pay for work of equal value," Glorene told Malaysiakini.

Tenaganita executive director Glorene A Das

Human Resources Minister V Sivakumar yesterday confirmed the latest five-year MOU did not make any reference to a minimum monthly wage - either set by Cambodia or based on Malaysia's current rate of RM1,500 as the minimum wage for all formal workers.

Instead, Malaysiakini understands that an employer seeking to hire a domestic worker from Cambodia must pay a monthly wage determined by "market forces" in Malaysia and agreed to as part of the terms and conditions of an employment contract.

Commenting further, Glorene cited minimum wages paid by Malaysian employers to domestic workers from Indonesia and the Philippines - as the two most popular source countries - and how the government is encouraging discrimination with no such term signed with Cambodia.

At the same time, she said governments of source countries must show political commitment to protect their nationals - especially its vulnerable group of domestic workers.

"The countries cannot just be interested in its labour export policy and the consequent remittances.

"The governments must protect domestic workers’ rights and dignity," she said, adding that Tenaganita will continue its efforts to advocate for a separate Domestic Workers Act.

Prior to the new agreement, Malaysia signed its first five-year MOU with Cambodia on Dec 10, 2015, until Dec 9, 2020 - after which all recruitments were mostly halted by the Covid-19 global lockdown.

The 2015 MOU lifted a five-year ban imposed by the Cambodian government on recruitment agencies from sending domestic workers to Malaysia - due to numerous reported cases of physical and mental abuse.

'Opaque negotiations'

Meanwhile, North-South Initiative executive director Adrian Pereira said there has been no transparency surrounding the Malaysia-Cambodia MOU and its final terms.

North-South Initiative executive director Adrian Pereira

"It is very upsetting that the MOU was done in such an opaque manner - leaving out the unions, NGOs and the migrant workers themselves.

"We are the experts on the ground, we know what are the safeguards, what are the loopholes in the laws, but unfortunately we're left out," he told Malaysiakini.

In the past, full contents of labour agreements reached with various source countries were similarly kept under wrap, raising questions over transparency of the process. - Mkini