2009/09/06
KUALA LUMPUR: A minimum monthly salary of RM800 for Indonesian maids is too high and is not affordable for many employers.
Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil said yesterday it would force many women to stop working to manage their households.
"Women's participation in the job market, which is 45.7 per cent at the moment, will decline and this in turn will affect the country's economic growth as women are among the country's development assets," Shahrizat said in a statement.
Indonesian media on Friday had reported that Indonesia would push for a minimum salary of RM800 a month for its citizens working as maids in Malaysia at a meeting in Jakarta of the committee overseeing the intake of Indonesian maids.
The sum is almost double the current salary of Indonesian maids.
Saying that the Employment Act 1955 did not stipulate any minimum salary for any sector in the country, Shahrizat said the issue of minimum wage for foreign maids should be studied carefully.
"As a country which practises an open economy, the salary for any of the employment sectors should be determined by market forces."
She said Malaysia should not set a minimum salary for just one sector as this would bring about implications in other employment sectors.
On the agreement by Malaysia and Indonesia to allow maids a day off a week, Shahrizat said it was an appropriate move but the implementation mechanism should be looked into in detail.
It was reported that the day-off provision would only take effect after the Employment Act 1955 was amended.
In Seremban, Human Resources Minister Datuk Dr S. Subramaniam said Malaysia would have the final say on the salary of Indonesian maids.
"Any country can ask for a raise because it is their right to do so, but in the end it is up to our government to accept it."
He declined to comment further on the salary demand, saying he needed to speak to his officers who were attending the Jakarta meeting.
"I have given them instructions and the various topics to be discussed at the meeting.
"We shall wait until the meeting is over and after I have spoken with them before I make any comments."
Dr Subramaniam said the salary demand from Indonesia stemmed from media reports which had portrayed Malaysian employers as abusive and who often ill-treated their maids.
"Indonesia's reaction following the foreign and local media attention was to set things in order and these included the requests for an off day, the issue relating to passports, prompt payment of wages and other matters relating to the welfare of maids.
"But our records show that 99.9 per cent of Malaysian employers treat their maids well; only 0.1 per cent have issues.
"We simply cannot let this small number damage the country's image and affect the recruitment of maids from Indonesia."
He said Malaysians had a choice of employing domestic helpers from Laos, Cambodia, the Philippines, India and Sri Lanka.
"They have the option of recruiting maids from these countries and we may soon see an intake of maids from more countries as we have been approached by countries that are interested in supplying domestic workers here."
Dr Subramaniam, who was here to launch the "Train and Place" programme at Tafe College, said among the countries and parties which had approached the ministry were China.
Most maids from Indonesia receive a monthly salary of between RM400 and RM500, but since March some are being paid RM600 a month.
Tidak ada komentar:
Posting Komentar