Indonesia Unhappy Over Quantum Of 2 Court Awards For Unpaid Maids

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Indonesian ambassador Hermono said they had found many cases of maids not paid their salaries in Malaysia.PETALING JAYA: The Indonesian embassy has expressed its unhappiness over two recent Industrial Court decisions which gave awards to two Indonesian maids who were not paid for long periods by their employers.
It was dissatisfied as the changing wage rates over the years were not taken into consideration by the two courts.
Indonesian ambassador Hermono said they would be sending a note of dissatisfaction against the two cases decided by the Industrial Courts in Port Klang and Sitiawan last week.
Ads by KioskedIn the first case, the employer did not pay the maid for 16 years from 2006 but the court awarded her a sum of around RM73,500, he said.
“From the time she worked, she only received a sum of RM2,500 first and another payment of RM5,000. The court then calculated that the remaining salary due to her was about RM73,500.
“This calculation was based on a monthly salary of RM450 from 2006. Our objection is that the wages would have changed over the years and would not have remained the same.
“This means she did not get any increment for 180 months. We do not agree with this,” he told FMT.
Hermono said in the second case, the maid had worked from 2004 but the employers did not pay her for 10 years from 2013.
He said the Industrial Court ordered the employer to pay an amount of RM11,000 as the salary owed to her for 10 years.
Ads by Kiosked“We are of the view that this decision is unfair as she worked for 10 years but was paid only this sum without considering the annual increment and the change in the minimum wages during that period.
“We are preparing to send the note through our foreign affairs ministry,” he said.
At a forum at Universiti Malaya yesterday, Hermono highlighted three issues that often triggered friction among the people of both countries — mistreatment of Indonesian migrant workers, border disputes and shared cultural heritage.
He said both countries have managed to resolve two of the issues but lamented that the issues concerning Indonesian migrant workers, such as mental and physical abuse, unpaid salaries as well as exploitation, had yet to be resolved.
He said they had found many cases of unpaid salaries and stressed on the need to strengthen the protection given to Indonesian migrant workers in Malaysia.
Hermono said his country had conducted massive operations in recent months against human traffickers sending undocumented Indonesian workers to work overseas, including to Malaysia.
Ads by Kiosked“Around 480 traffickers have been detained. We hope to reduce the number of undocumented workers in Malaysia by carrying out such operations.
“We cannot rely on Malaysia alone to solve this problem,” he said, adding that many employers tend to hire illegal workers to reduce their costs. - FMT

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