The Maid - Squeezing Dry The Employers (3)

MTUC: Cut Maid Agency Fees Instead

PETALING JAYA, Aug 9 — Instead of the salary of Indonesian maids, the Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) wants the government to negotiate and reduce the cost of their recruitment.
MTUC vice-president A. Balasubramaniam said currently, maids were unduly burdened with extra cost which they had to pay to recruiting agents.
According to him, before the Indonesian government imposed the ban on its maids a year ago, the recruiting fee was in the region of RM8,000 each.
Part of the money was deducted by the employers via the maid’s salary, which meant that they (maids) had to work for six months without pay.
“This system is most unfair to the maids as it is akin to forced labour,” he told Bernama today.
Balasubramaniam was commenting on a statement by Human Resources Minister Datuk Dr S. Subramaniam that the Indonesian government’s demand for RM800 minimum wage for maids could not be implemented as Malaysia did not have a minimum wage structure.
He said this was one of the main reasons why the memorandum of understanding (MOU) between Malaysia and Indonesia could not be implemented.
On the RM800 salary, Balasubramaniam said a survey conducted by MTUC early this year showed that some employers were willing to pay RM800 per month to Indonesian maids, provided the agency fees were reduced.
He said the survey also revealed employers were willing to pay higher salaries to the maids  instead of higher fees to the agents. As an alternative, he said the government should take steps to reduce the dependence of maids among Malaysian households.
This could be done by providing crèches and child centres so that working mothers could leave their children in safe environment, he said, adding that the private sector could also assist the government by setting up their own centres for employees. — Bernama

Source: The Malaysian Insider - August 9, 2010

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No Standard Rate For Maid Agency Charges
DARSHINI KANDASAMY

RENU is confused over the rates a manpower supply agency can charge to provide one with a foreign maid.
She has been a housewife the past three years and having decided to return to work, she is now sourcing for a maid.
“I have a rambunctious two-year-old son to care for, and need someone to handle the household chores while I am at work,” she said.
She and her husband have gone to various maid agencies in Kuala Lumpur and each quoted different rates, from RM6,000 to as high as RM8,000 for the service,” RENU said.
She wants to know if there is a standard fee for someone seeking to hire a foreign maid.
“Is there a standard rate? Or, are some agencies already increasing their rates because Indonesia has demanded that the maid’s salary be RM800 a month?” she asked.
Some of the agencies said they could get her an Indonesian maid, but RENU added: “I am under the impression that the intake of Indonesians maids has been frozen. Am I being deceived?”
She hopes the matter can be clarified so that she and her husband would not be taken for a ride.
● MALAYSIAN Association of Foreign Maid Agencies (Papa) vice-president (1) Jeffrey Foo said the freeze on the intake of Indonesian maids is still in effect.
“The freeze affects all Indonesians whose passports are dated after June 26, 2009. Those with passports issued after this date are not allowed to work in Malaysia.”
There would be no problem if an agency brings in a maid whose passport is dated before June 26, Foo said.
As for the cost to bring in a domestic helper, he said it would be based on the market rate in the country and therefore there was no fixed amount. RENU should check with several agencies
for the best rate and service.
The cost also depended on other factors, Foo said, such as the maid’s experience, where she comes from and her training.
He added that the minimum monthly salary of RM800 for Indonesian maids was only a suggestion by the Indonesian government and “nothing has been confirmed”.

Source: Malay Mail - Tuesday, September 8, 2009
 

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Complaint Of Maid Agency

Posted by: behfern 

This is regarding complaint against a fraud maid service agency.
I, beh fern fern , and my husband, john teo, register for maid on april 09 . Since I am 5 months pregnant on april, I was looking for a full time maid and contacted above mentioned agency on 23rd April ’09. One, ms sheila told me that their agency has a full time maid named
Mrs. maria aged 36 years. All process were done and fees were paid on april and pending for maid arrival on july which is promised by the
agent. However, maid named maria were unable to make it due to her last minute medical check up on jul and agency did not update us until
we contact the agent to check up the status on end july.  The agency also promised for replacement of the maid in case the same is not
suitable to us due to medical failure which they promised maid will come on 15 aug. This second promise were broken again where agent claim
the process is tedious and facing visa problem , but all this process status were not updated to us again until i called up on 16th aug
2009 again to ask about the condition. After long argument over the phone, agency wrote an email to promise they will ensure the maid come
onm 5.9.2009 and finally arrive to my house on 8 sept 2009.
In a week’s of 8 sept 2009, When we asked sheila for maid status, she started avoiding us, either not picking us his cell phone or keeping
on switched-off mode. When contacted on landline, he asked us to talk to some other person. Sometimes, when we called, she said she is in
meeting. 
we are totally and absolutely frustrated and dissapointed over this agency where it used to be claim as the best maid agency in malaysia
from their own website. i sincerely urge all resident who wish to hire maid , please do not attempt to approach this agency to avoid from
huge hassle in future. thank you.

Source: The Star - Tuesday. September 8, 2009

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Maid Agencies Fees Are ‘Exploitative’

The Malaysia maid agencies appears to be deeply immune to the Malaysian government's instruction to reduce the maid agency fees to RM2,415.

We, Migrant Care, one the most active Jakarta-based migrant workers non-government organisations, presents the breakdown of the cost incurred by the Indonesian maid.

The demand for the RM5,000 to RM6,000 fees is way too high as the cost of hiring a maid, including the profit for the Indonesian agent, is only about RM2,000.

The ceiling price set by the Malaysia government at RM2,415 is actually very reasonable, something that will allow the Malaysian agent to enjoy about 25 percent profit for their recruitment service.

The demand for a fee of between RM5,000 and RM6,000 is a reflection of abusive and exploitative nature of maid agencies in Malaysia, an industry ranked by Transparency International as the second most corrupt.

The maid agencies are enjoying a hefty RM3,000 to RM4,000 profit per maid placement.

The reasons given by Deputy Home Minister Tan Chai Ho about the low salary in Malaysia being acceptable because maids in Hong Kong are paid HK$3,740 (RM1,681) per month as compare to Malaysia’s market rate of RM400 to RM500 per month. However, the maids bound for Hong Kong are better trained as compared to the maids sent to Malaysia.

There is a very prominent ISO 9001 maid agency in Kuala Lumpur’s Old Klang Road, which has even openly advertised that their Muslim maids are willing to handle pork and bathe dogs. We question how the industry standard certification company could award the agency which openly breach the guidelines set forth by the Malaysia foreign labour task force?

There is not proper laws to regulate the human exploitation in Malaysia - it’s open doors for Malaysia’s maid agencies to exploit both employers and foreign workers. The cartel even openly threatens the Malaysian Employers Federation by delaying the approval of visa renewal that could cost the economy more than RM220 million in lost productivity.

The author is coordinator of Migrant Care.

Source: Malaysiakini - March 15, 2007 

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Foreign Maid Dilemma

Posted by: mysticmonk70
 

She eventually did it. I just could not digest the fact she left our house opened, the gate, main door unlocked. I just heard a motorcycle screaming away. I took my car and tried to go after whomever that was speeding away. I panicked, went around and around. Could not find her. She did what she has told me and I could not do anything.

Few weeks ago, my maid told me that she wants to go back home because all her letters posted to her husband is not replied. She is worried of her kids and husband. My wife contacted our foreign maid agent and told her of this scenario, Ms DDDD, the manager of Malacca branch told us about the contract that the maid cannot leave for the duration of her employment and promised to visit to explain to the maid. If only I could count the number of promises of the visit she promised and convert it to dollars and cents, I can afford to hire 10 maids. During the employment of the first maid, I was promised the heaven and an angel maid. My maid, the angel came with a hope that she was going to take care of an elderly lady only but alas when she arrived and sat down on my couch, I could sense her disappointment and resentment.

After a month, she began to act a bit weird. Her first act was leaving my last son, a 2 year old boy at home alone for hours while sending my second son to child care about 2 houses away. On her way she will have hourly chat with all other Indonesian friend around the vicinity of the housing area. She also an angel in distress, as she used to give away our food storage such as Maggie Mees, Instant coffee sachets, soaps and daily groceries such as vegetables for favors such as posting letters and getting other food in exchange.

Called the manager in the agency and all she could say is “OK”, “Talk to her and I will visit her end of the week”. Maybe it is my mistake not to ask her which week is she talking about. She never turned up. Eventually about 6 months later, the maid came to me and told me she wants to go back to the agent. I took her to the agent, left her there and told my agent to sort my problem out. She now tells me I need to fork out another RM2,500 for a transfer. One thing about me is that I want to do everything legal and in accordance to Malaysian Law. I paid the amount and got a maid who was a chatterbox unlike the previous one. The first day she turned up via taxi from KL, instead of us telling her her duties, she told us , her regulations and expectations. She will not cook, She will only take care of kids. She will not send my second son to the day care centre and she will sleep at 8.30pm with my daughter so that she can wake up at 6.00am to prepare my daughter to school. Having no choice and afraid of “losing” my investment, I agreed and went on with life until that day”. It was also just after a few weeks after renewing her permit and visa for employment. Within less than 2 years I have spent a total of RM16,800 for 2 maids, RM2,500 for replacement in addition to that a further RM760 for renewal of permit, visa and Fomema.

To my surprise, my collegue came to me and told me her maid also ran away. What was ironic is that her maid is also from the same agency. After sourcing around for proof, there were about 4 other also have lost their maid within that month. My drilling mind suddenly tells me that this could probably be a scam. A scam so perfectly planned that they would look like they ran way, brought across to another state and put to work swith a cleaning service, restaurant and other industry which will pay them more. Of course these “employees” will take them to work without any entrance fee or reduced entrance fee as we have paid all of those. Coincidentally, every maid who leaves or run away will do so after the 3^rd month (guarantee period)

As much as I am a sore loser, I do not want this to happen to any other person. Hard earned money goes to the agent who may be involved in this scam and enjoy the double profit that they have gained. What I am proposing here to the government is while negotiating with a country which labels us cruel employee is that there should be a fair bilateral agreement which also covers employee in Malaysia that if they (the maid) run away, the should be lawfully prosecuted and the employee compensated for the hard-ship likewise an employee lawfully prosecuted for abusing a maid. Also with the advanced technology that is available today, we can have each maid coming in with their finger-print scanned so that they (the maid) can’t go back to their country , change identity and come back as a different name to Malaysia. Every maid agency should be directly registered under the lawful government agency and be monitored. There should be a standard draft agreement and a standard maximum fee proposed by the government for recruiting a foreign maid so that the cost of recruitment is not determined by agencies but rather by the government with strings attached. The also should be a guarantee amount being kept by the government agency via the agent for every maid so that when they run away or abscond, these “deposit” will be given to the employee as a compensation.

Now I am suffering because my maid ran away and my cost of taking care of my children have increased because I am sending them to a day care centre all day long. What have the agent and the government agency to say to me to console me in this time of crisis. “Nothing” and absolutely nothing. We are the losers…….

Source: The Star - Thursday, February 25, 2010

The Maid - Squeezing Dry The Employers (2)

Distressed Bosses Want Laws To Protect Their Interests

PETALING JAYA: Distressed employers are seeking protection against fraudulent agencies and runaway maids.
Having lost large amounts of money to agencies that draw up lopsided contracts, the employers are hoping new regulations will be put in place to safeguard their interests.
An employer who only wanted to be known as Alan, 39, said he paid an agency RM11,500 for an Indonesian maid.
“We got a complete lunatic who carried a knife around with her,” he said, adding that the maid stole money, jewellery and his children’s clothes to send to her own family.
“She threatened us with the knife when we confronted her,” he said, adding that the agency refused to give him a refund when he sent her back.
College lecturer S. Kumaran, 40, from Klang, lost RM6,000 in downpayment to a maid agency after their Sri Lankan maid left after just three months.
“She worked for exactly three months before suddenly claiming that her daughter was sick and that she had to go back to her country immediately,” he said.
Junaidah Ramadan, 52, said an agency collected RM7,000 from her before sending her a maid with a health problem.
“She could hardly walk, let alone do much work as she would experience severe pains in her joints,” Junaidah said, She added that the maid would often sit around and cry.
“The agency insisted that we pay half the original amount for a new maid, knowing that if we went to another agency, we would have to come up with another RM7,000,” she said.
An employer called Aileen lost her RM9,000 downpayment when her maid ran away after four months.
“The agencies make up their own rules that work to their benefit,” she said.
Bar Council chairman Ragunath Kesavan urged employers to lodge a complaint with the Human Resource Ministry or the Consumer Claims Tribunal if they suspected foul play by maid agencies.
Malaysian Association of Foreign Maid Agencies (Papa) president Alwi Bavutty said maid agencies would be blacklisted if they would not provide a replacement if a maid ran away within the first three months.

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Desperate Employers Paying High Prices For Temporary Maids 
Stories by MUGUTAN VANAR, P. ARUNA and REENA NATHAN

PETALING JAYA: Maid agencies are cashing in on the shortage of domestic helpers in the country by charging desperate employers up to RM1,500 monthly for temporary maids.
The employers are paying a high price for these “temps,” who are hired for a few months before being “rotated” by the agency to other households.
With people willing to pay up to RM1,500 per month for such a temp, it is estimated that agencies are raking in up to RM18,000 each year for every maid under them.
Under the temp system, which is illegal, the employers will fork out the payment to the agencies, who would then pay the maids low wages and pocket the rest.
To fulfil the supply of maids as temps and due to the continued freeze by the Indonesian government, it is believed that the agencies are “recycling” those who have run away from their employers.
The growing practice was exposed by employers, who confessed to having paid large sums of money for these temps.
An employer from Kuala Lumpur, who declined to be named, said he was paying a registered agency RM1,500 per month for a temporary Cambodian maid.
“The agency told us she was a ‘rejected’ maid and we agreed to take her on because we were desperate for help and she was available immediately,” he said.
He said when the agency first informed them of the availability of a temp, his wife went to pick her up only to be told that she had already been hired to another household.
“We were told to come back after two days as these temps were in high demand,” he said.
Association of Foreign Maid Agencies (Papa) president Alwi Bavutty said it had received several reports of agencies supplying such temps and had sent letters demanding for an explanation.
“It is illegal and we will take action against any agency providing such services,” he said.
Alwi said maids were brought into the country only to work for specific employers and that the transfer of a maid to another employer could only be carried out once with approval from the Immigration Department and the first employer.
“If the second employer returns the maid to the agency, she has to be sent back to her country immediately,” he said, adding that there were many unregistered agencies getting maids through illegal means and offering them as temps.
Employers are also caught in the dilemma because the illegality of the temp system and the lack of documentation from the agencies mean that they cannot even file an official complaint if they are dissatisfied with the work.

Both Sources: The Star - Sunday, January 16, 2011

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Indonesian maid was hired by Ms Wee five months ago.

Deposit of RM5,000 was paid, with a promise that processing will be 2 to 3 months.

If not, Ms Wee has the right to cancel the contract with full refund.

Exactly three months later, the salesperson of the maid agency which Ms Wee approached, called to inform that the maid is not coming to Malaysia.

Since the promised time frame had elapse, Ms Wee requested for a temporary helper but was turned down by the agency.

She was asked to choose a new biodata of her another choosen maid.

A month later, there was no news from the agency.

So, Ms Wee called to ask the latest development of the date when the chosen maid supposed to arrive, or she insisted on being provided with a temporary helper.

The salesperson assured her the temporary helper is ready for her.

Two days later, when she appeared at the maid agency's office to take home the helper, she had a shock of her life.

She was to pay an additional RM6,500.

Frustrated, she asked for the full refund promised to her.

She was sent an email. 

Refund was RM1,000 less minus miscellaneous expenses...

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Eve engaged a maid agency a year ago, as her then existing maid wanted to go back to Indonesia. 

She was promised of a new maid within 3 months after payment was made.

A trusting person, she believed what was promised by the agency.

Taking their words, she terminated the existing Maid’s visa on the promised month when the new maid is supposed to arrive.

She bought a flight ticket home for her existing maid too.

A month lapse, there was no sight of the new maid.

The exisitng maid is ready to fly home.

She went to the immigration, did not mind the penalty, and pleaded the immigration officer to renew the existing maid’s visa.

The maid agency once again promised Eve her new maid will be arriving in another month's time.

Again, she terminated her maid's visa and again, purchased air ticket for the second time for her maid to return home. 

The whole promised month, for thirty days, Eve waited for the new maid. 

Once again, she was no where in sight. 

The immigration refuse to renew the visa of her existing maid the second time. 

Since the promised maid did not appear, Eve was provided with a temporary maid. 

That was when her house was robbed. 

The maid who was sleeping in her room downstairs, did not hear any commotion when the house was entered into. 

Eve felt cheated, send back the temporary maid, and asked for the return of her deposit. 

They took another 4 months to return the money, minus the temporary maid’s salary, which is double the permanent maid...

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NO-SHOW HOUSEMAID
Submitted by pekwan

Couple Upset Over Partial Refund For Fruitless Wait
NADIRAH H. RODZI Joseph Kaos Jr

AMRAN and his wife have had a torrid time dealing with an employment agency to apply for a domestic worker.
In September, the couple approached Agensi Pekerjaan Sri Nadin Sdn Bhd in Kuala Lumpur to get an Indonesian maid.
After paying a downpayment of RM2,450 to the agency, the couple was told that the application would be processed after the Hari Raya break, as its Indonesian counterpart would also be closed for the holiday.
A month later, in October, after not getting any news, AMRAN contacted the agency. He was shocked to learn that the agency had yet to receive any document from its Indonesian counterpart because the candidate for the job had not confirmed her impending employment.
Not wanting to wait any longer, AMRAN and wife agreed to select a different candidate. They were promised that the application would be processed, and the maid should arrive in Malaysia by December.
When there was no word from the agency, AMRAN gave them another call.
"Imagine my surprise when I was informed that the maid had not arrived and gave me the same reason as the first candidate, in that the agency had not received her documents from Indonesia.
"I felt that if the agency in Indonesia was ineffective, they should stop using its services, and they should have the courtesy to inform us, and not let us wait here anxiously."
Fed up of the fruitless long wait, AMRAN requested the agency to return the RM2,450-deposit to him.
He was shocked when the agency told him that RM300 would be deducted from the deposit as "administration fees".
AMRAN disagreed and demanded a full refund, but when he eventually received the cheque, the RM300 was still deducted from the full amount.
"The agency highlighted to me a clause in the agency and employer’s agreement that RM300 would be deducted from my deposit in the event that I decided not to proceed with the employment of the maid from their agency.
"I disagreed because no maid was provided to us to begin with. They didn’t fulfill the job that we trusted them to do. How can they charge me RM300 for this?"
AMRAN and his wife insist that they get back their RM300 from the agency.
● When contacted, an Agensi Pekerjaan Sri Nadin manager reiterates the reason for AMRAN not getting his RM300 back.
"It is mentioned in Clause 4.4 (a) that a sum of RM300 shall be forfeited from the Agency Fee after the execution of the agreement, in the event that the employer decides not to proceed with the employment of the maid.
"The term 'agreement' here means that the employer agrees to appoint the agency's services to find the client a maid. The client had to sign this agreement first before paying the deposit.
"We trust that the client is able to understand the clauses in the agreement.
"The client also cannot say that we didn’t fulfill our job because there was, indeed, work being done to get the maid."
The manager says the client offered a RM550 monthly salary for the maids. "So we believe that this was the reason why the two maids in Indonesia decided not to take up the offer. The normal salary range for Indonesian maids is RM600.
"Since the client decided to stop using our services, we had to return the deposit, but as explained in the agreement, the RM300 had to be deducted." 

Source: Malay Mail - Thursday, December 24th, 2009