�Sunday - 23 July 2006

PUTRAJAYA: Employers hiring Indonesian maids since last month will not be allowed to renew their domestic helpers' work permits unless a contract of employment has been signed between the two parties.�

Employers must also open a savings account to deposit the helper's monthly wages and buy a mandatory annual insurance policy to protect the maid.�

If they fail to do so, the Government will not renew the annual work permit.�

There are currently 320,000 households with foreign maids in the country but the new ruling applies only to those hiring fresh Indonesian maids.�

Labour Department director-general Datuk Ismail Abdul Rahim said employers who started hiring fresh maids from Indonesia since June would be required to produce the maid�s bank passbook when applying to renew the work permit.�

Under the new ruling, deductions to the maid's wages would not be allowed unless permitted by the Labour Department.�

�If deductions are done without the approval of the department, employers can be fined up to RM10,000 as provided for under Section 99A of the Employment Act 1955,� he said.�

The ruling follows the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding between Malaysia and Indonesia last month promising better working arrangements for Indonesian maids.�

�The terms and conditions should stipulate the monthly salary, working hours and leave while other terms can be included as agreed by both parties,� he added. .�

He said that a copy of the signed contract form must be given to the maid.�

�Employers need not engage third parties, including lawyers, to draft the contract,� he said, adding that sample contract of employment forms were available.�

Ismail said the forms plus additional information on the new ruling could be obtained at the Labour Department here and at all the 38 district-level departments in the peninsula. �

With the contract, Indonesian maids can now take grievances against employers to the Labour Court, where employers are liable to a fine and jail if they do not abide by the contract. �

On deduction of salary, Ismail said the department would allow it only if the employer showed proof of incurred expenses during the process of bringing the maid into the country.�

�Even if deductions were allowed, they should not be over 50% of the monthly salary and the necessary receipts must be presented to the department,'' he told The Star.�

Previously, at least five months of a maid�s salary were deducted for expenses incurred by the maid agency for bringing in trained maids, which sometimes also included the service charge imposed on employers by the agency.�

�It is best to get a savings account without an ATM card and for the employer to keep the savings book in a safe place to prevent maids from running away,� he said, adding that the account would give the maids some privilege to withdraw their money anytime but with the employer�s approval.�