Govt to deliver law on protection of domestic workers

The government is expected to deliver a law on domestic workers to the House of Representatives at some stage between December and January, in a bid to improve the lives of millions of Indonesians.

The law would mandate regulations on workers' minimum age requirements, standard wages and working hours, Justice and Human Rights Ministry research and development head Saiful Rahman said Thursday.

"We expect the law would provide a legal basis to protect their rights, thus helping to reduce violations," Saiful said.

Separately, Lita Anggraini of Jala PRT domestic workers right NGO said several NGOs had been working on the 30-article bill since 2004.

"The law will also specifically regulate housemaids agents so it can stop the exploitation of workers," Lita said.

According to research conducted by the Manpower and Transmigration Ministry and the International Labor Organization in 2007, Indonesia had some 2.6 million housemaids, 688,000 of whom were children under 15 years old. (dre)