Employers will soon have to insure their maids

The Star, Friday September 5, 2008, PUTRAJAYA: People who hire domestic maids will soon be required to buy insurance for their helpers under a proposed amendment to the Employment Act and Workers’ Compensation Act.

Human Resources Minister Datuk Dr S. Subramaniam said maids who were earlier exempted from insurance coverage would be included to get protection from their employers as part of the planned amendments.

“Maids were earlier given exemption because we thought employers would automatically take care of their welfare, but now since it has been found to be otherwise the exemption clause would be removed,” he said.

He said amendments to both the Acts are expected to be tabled in Parliament by December after getting the go-ahead from the Cabinet.

With the amendments, which would see a reduced dependence on foreign workers, employers would be required to notify the ministry of vacancies and justify the need to employ them one month before applying for foreign workers, he said.

He said outsourcing companies would have to inform the ministry of the exact number of workers that was needed to ensure there would be no glut in the country.

There had been cases where outsourcing companies had brought in foreigners when jobs were not available, he said.

“Outsourcing companies will be regulated based on this new system,” he told reporters here yesterday after meeting Home Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar.

The ministry had a database of unemployed and skilled Malaysian workers, he said, adding that the ministry also conducts skills training to meet local demand.

Syed Hamid said the Human Resources and Home Ministries were working hand-in-hand to reduce the number of foreign workers in the country from the current 2.2 million to 1.8 million by the year 2010 as planned under the mid-term review of the Ninth Malaysia Plan.

Source from: The Star, URL:
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/9/5/nation/22245005&sec=nation