Tenaganita renews calls for standalone legislation to protect domestic workers
An abused domestic worker from East Java was recently rescued by the Indonesian embassy, with the help of Subang Jaya police, after her written plea for help was found by a neighbour.
PETALING JAYA : Migrant rights group Tenaganita has renewed calls for the introduction of standalone legislation to protect domestic workers following the rescue of an abused Indonesian woman from a house on Monday.
Currently, domestic workers are excluded from key protections under the 1955 Employment Act, leaving them outside the full scope of labour standards afforded to other sectors.
'We need a standalone, comprehensive legislation for domestic workers, one that provides enforceable rights, guarantees fair working conditions, mandates accountability for employers and recruitment agencies, and recognises domestic work as real work under the law,' Tenaganita said in a statement.
'The continued absence of such legislation is a failure of our duty to uphold human dignity and to protect the vulnerable.
'Abuse, exploitation, and violence must never be the price someone pays for simply trying to earn a living.'
Muliani (pseudonym), who hails from East Java, was rescued by the Indonesian embassy in Kuala Lumpur and Subang Jaya police after her written plea for help was found by a neighbour.
The embassy has summoned the Malaysian agency that recruited Muliani to hold it accountable for negligence in monitoring the welfare of their workers.
In 2023, Indonesian ambassador Hermono said that about 90% of the complaints received by the republic's embassy relate to abuse experienced by Indonesian domestic workers in Malaysia.
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