The Straits Times
KUALA LUMPUR- MALAYSIA is drafting new laws to protect domestic workers from sexual harassment, non-payment of wages and poor working conditions, an official said on Thursday.
The move would provide the first legal protection for domestic workers in Malaysia - mostly from Indonesia - who are not covered by legislation that protects foreign workers in other sectors like construction.
'We have proposed three new provisions in law to deal with sexual harassment, wages and their working conditions,' said Mr Sabri Karmani, deputy director general of the labour department.
'They are with the Attorney-General's Chambers now and hopefully they will be tabled in the next parliament session,' he said in a speech to a conference on migrant labour.
Sabri said that last year there were 834 complaints filed by domestic workers through their embassies, with non-payment of wages topping the list at 207, followed by 117 who complained about poor working conditions.
Malaysia has no laws enshrining working conditions for domestic workers, meaning that they have no right to set working hours or regular time off.
Indonesian maids often work long hours, seven days a week, for a wage as low as 120 dollars a month.
However, the Philippines insists on contracts stipulating payment and regular days off for its citizens working here.
'The employment act is silent on all forms of protection for domestic workers to claim wages as a worker and other protection such as having her day off,' said Ms Aegile Fernandez, coordinator for migrant labour group Tenaganita.
'There is an urgent need for state enforcement agencies to protect domestic workers,' she told AFP on the sidelines of the conference. 'They live in isolated work conditions and there is no free movement, they are exposed to more abusive situations.' -- AFP
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