Labor agencies demand protection for domestics<\/p>\n
Damar Harsanto, Jakarta<\/p>\n
A group of labor agencies providing domestic workers urged the
\nJakarta administration to rectify a regulation on domestic
\nworkers in a bid to promote labor protection amid rising reports
\nof abuse committed by employers.<\/p>\n
\"A revision to the bylaw is urgent, especially for the workers
\nwho are recruited directly by their employers from villages,\" Edy
\nGunno, chairman of the Forum of Domestic Worker Suppliers, told
\nreporters during a rally at City Hall on Monday.<\/p>\n
Edy said that the workers who were recruited directly were
\noften underpaid and usually had to work overtime, while the
\nemployers did not provide meals for live-in workers, unlike their
\nfellow workers who were contracted through labor agencies and
\nworked under contracts.<\/p>\n
\"We expect the revised bylaw to give clear guidelines for the
\nadministration to monitor workers as well as impose sanctions
\nagainst abusive employers.\"<\/p>\n
The existing Bylaw No. 6\/1993 stipulates a minimum age of 18
\nfor domestic workers, unless the workers can produce a letter of
\npermission from their parents.<\/p>\n
The bylaw also requires an employer to give proper meals to a
\nlive-in worker. In addition, an employer is also required to give
\nthe worker annual leave and is still required to pay his or her
\nsalary while the worker is on leave.<\/p>\n
However, Edy said, most of the requirements are ignored by
\nemployers, a condition which is worsened by ineffective
\nmonitoring by the administration.<\/p>\n
The International Labor Organization estimates that more than
\n200,000 children below the age of 18 in Greater Jakarta were
\nworking last year without legal protection, mostly as domestic
\nworkers. The ILO also estimates there are around 800,000 child
\nworkers nationwide.<\/p>\n
On Friday, two nursemaids, Solikhah, 23, and Suprianti, 20,
\nfiled a complaint with the National Commission on Human Rights,
\nreporting abusive treatment by their employer. They said they had
\nbeen slapped, hit, and confined in the employer's house in
\nMenteng, Central Jakarta.<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Manpower Agency head Ali Zubeir admitted that his
\nagency found it difficult to monitor domestic workers in the city
\nin order to better protect their rights.<\/p>\n
\"It is difficult to monitor them one by one due their high
\nmobility. Besides, we will face technical difficulties to check
\nthe number of domestic workers employed by a household, for
\ninstance,\" Zubeir told The Jakarta Post on Monday.<\/p>\n
Zubeir added that the administration was drafting a bylaw to
\nregulate manpower in the city.<\/p>\n
\"However, we will not include the issue of domestic workers in
\nthe bylaw, but will regulate it in a gubernatorial decree,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/labor-agencies-demand-protection-for-domestics-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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