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Give maids due respect
The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Sat, 11/11/2006 11:57 AM | Opinion
While many university and high school graduates have just about given up hope of landing a good job, there seem to be plenty of vacancies for domestic helpers in Jakarta and its surrounding areas Bekasi, Bogor, Depok and Tangerang.
A recruitment agency in Jakarta has complained about not having enough workers to fill available jobs. The agency placed around 2,300 workers the previous year, but as of October this year it has only placed 2,000 people because of a shortage of qualified applicants.
Another agency, also in the capital, says it has received 4,500 requests for nannies this year, meaning about 300 nannies are needed each month. However, the agency has only been able to meet about half the demand.
Despite this demand for domestic servants, which is a clear testament to their importance to households in Jakarta and surrounding areas, many maids have sad stories to tell. Many have been mistreated by their employers, who disrespect and deny their basic rights. Many receive low salaries, work more than 12 hours a day and never enjoy a day off.
Most families that employ domestic helpers have never heard of the International Labor Organization's conventions on the basic rights of maids, which the Indonesian government has ratified, including protection from abuse and domestic violence.
In Jakarta, regulations on housemaids were introduced as far back as 1825 by the colonial administrators. However, because these regulations did nothing to stop people employing maids with no legal basis, the Jakarta administration issued a bylaw in 1993 which was meant to improve the welfare of domestic helpers. The administration issued another bylaw in 2004 to better protect all informal workers, including maids.
These two bylaws require employers to guarantee maids' monthly wages, provide them adequate meals and ensure they are treated humanely, which includes providing them healthcare and allowing them to perform their religious duties.
While the regulations outline punishments for offenders, they have done little to stem the abuse of maids, who very much are dependent on the generosity of their employers for protection.
Maids who work for generous families are of course much luckier than those employed by the sort of people who demand they work day and night, for very little money.
Attentive employers allow maids to enjoy their leisure time, usually after dark. The maids are also taken to the doctor and receive proper medical care when they fall sick, as required by the law. They also get extra money on the weekend.
Those working with generous families also enjoy annual raises. While it may not seem like much money, domestic helpers who earn Rp 350,000 to Rp 500,000 a month are able to save some money, or they can send a little money home to their families each month.
Compared to working in a factory, being a household helper does have several plus points: free room and board, and free healthcare, if they are lucky.
So, with the government unable to deal with the problem of unemployment and millions of people scrambling just to survive, many unskilled workers from rural areas still dream of finding a job as a domestic helper in Jakarta.
Therefore, the central government and the Jakarta administration should be on the front line in campaigning for the protection of maids. One place to start would be to begin enforcing the existing laws and regulations that guarantee the basic rights of household helpers.
Once people decide to employ a maid, they must be ready to respect their basic rights, including the right to holidays and overtime pay. In this way respect for domestic helpers will be promoted. Maids are heroes to their families and important contributors to the economies of the mainly small towns from which they come.
So, let's give them the respect they deserve and stop denying them their rights.
