Action against illegal house maid agencies urged<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The City Manpower Agency was urged to take stern
\naction against illegal agencies supplying domestic help, a city
\nofficial said yesterday.<\/p>\n
The city's assistant secretary for social welfare,
\nSoenarjudardji, said that the large number of illegal agencies
\noperating would affect municipality revenue.<\/p>\n
\"Their illegal operations will affect the amount of revenue we
\nexpect from them,\" Soenarjudardji said at City Hall.<\/p>\n
The municipality introduced a rule on domestic helpers'
\nwelfare in June 1993, following cases of abuse in the late 1980s.<\/p>\n
Under the rule, the municipality imposes a Rp 500,000 fee
\nevery three years (US$204.90) on agencies supplying domestic
\nhelp.<\/p>\n
Moreover, the rule also stipulates that a domestic helper's
\nemployer is subject to an annual Rp 3,000 fee, including the cost
\nof a Rp 500 city stamp.<\/p>\n
The fee was effective under a gubernatorial decree in 1995.<\/p>\n
The head of the City Manpower Agency, R.H. Sudhartin, said on
\nFriday that 97 percent of agencies supplying domestic help in the
\ncity were illegal.<\/p>\n
\"Out of 76 agencies supplying domestic help in the city, only
\ntwo of them have business permits,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He blamed the large amount of illegal agencies on owners' lack
\nof understanding of the city's rule on domestic help.<\/p>\n
Sudhartin said that he will soon remind agencies supplying
\ndomestic help about the importance of having business permits.<\/p>\n
He will also cooperate with agencies to improve their
\ncapabilities in producing professional domestic helpers.<\/p>\n
The City Manpower Agency, he said, will start holding a
\ntraining course for domestic helpers next month.<\/p>\n
\"In the first stage we will train 2,000 domestic helpers for
\nthree to five days,\" Sudhartin said.<\/p>\n
He said the manpower agency is facing difficulties in
\nrecording the number of domestic helpers employed throughout the
\ncity.<\/p>\n
\"It's difficult to record the number of domestic helpers,
\nbecause most of them are hired by families within days of
\ncontacting an illegal agency,\" Sudhartin said.<\/p>\n
He said that costs of the training course are financed by
\nfunds collected from employers and part of the city budget.<\/p>\n
\"The city has set aside Rp 600 million to train domestic
\nhelpers in this ongoing fiscal year,\" Sudhartin said.<\/p>\n
The 31-chapter rule on domestic help regulates the rights and
\nobligations of agencies, employers and the helpers themselves.<\/p>\n
The rule also covers contracts between employers and domestic
\nhelpers and a minimum working age of 15 years, unless one has
\nparental permission. It also introduces 12 days of annual leave.<\/p>\n
Agencies' obligations include, among other things, processing
\nlicenses, giving training in housekeeping skills and guaranteeing
\nthat the workers would stay at their jobs for at least six
\nmonths.<\/p>\n
Agencies are forbidden to send domestic helpers outside
\nJakarta, supplying them through brokers or charging them fees.<\/p>\n
Employers must also be permanent residents. They must report
\nto the manpower agency if they do not employ domestic helpers
\nthrough agencies.<\/p>\n
In 1996, the municipality said only 25,000 of an estimated
\n500,000 domestic helpers were registered. It is estimated that 30
\npercent of the 1.7 million families in the city have domestic
\nhelp. (ste)<\/p>",
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