Malaysia is one of Asia's biggest employers of foreign labour. But recently, cases of deaths, abuse and forced labour have come to light. What is going on? Who is protecting these migrant workers?
Human Resources Minister Datuk Seri Dr Fong Chan Onn said it was important for Malaysians to adapt to changes in working styles brought about by globalisation and technological developments.
<p>“To help women who want to work from home, we are studying amendments
to the Employment Act and the Employees Social Security Act to allow women employees
flexibility in doing their work,” he said after opening a seminar organised
by the Women’s SME Association of Malaysia here yesterday.</p>
<p>Dr Fong said the authorities needed to look at the definition of working hours
for those working from home.</p>
<p>“In this case, working hours do not mean time spent at the workplace.
We also have to look at overtime clauses and flexi-hours, because these workers
may start work at different times,” he said.</p>
<p>“The Employees Social Security Act will also have to be changed to offer
protection for those who may suffer accidents while working at home. The study
is expected to be completed by the end of the year.”</p>
<p>He said the work-at-home concept for Malaysian women was still at the infancy
stage.</p>
<p>Except for women who work in the garment and plastic industries in rural areas,
not many female workers had adapted to working from home, he added.</p>
<p>On foreign maids, Dr Fong said his ministry would call for a meeting with heads
of maid agencies soon to brief them on employers’ needs and to ask them to correct
the negative perception of maids employed in the country.</p>
<p>He added that the agents would also be asked to charge reasonable rates so
that employers would not be financially burdened.</p>
<p>Malaysia and Indonesia signed a Memorandum of Understanding last week for the
protection of Indonesian maids in Malaysia.</p>
<p>About 310,000 foreign maids work in the country.
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