Maids need protecting

Maids need protecting

The Straits Times
Asia News Network
Singapore

For as long as the Manpower Ministry is reluctant to impose
contractual obligations in the hiring of foreign maids, more
partisan schemes will rush in to fill the void. The Indonesian
Embassy is the latest to join the fray. An estimated 50,000
Indonesian maids work here, so it is perfectly normal for the
embassy to want the best deal for its nationals. Safety is a
factor too, on account of physical abuse and maids falling from a
height.

Occurrences in both categories are frequent enough not to be
treated as aberrations, or worse, to be regarded as occupational
hazards. The embassy now wants hirers of Indonesian maids to sign
an employment agreement guaranteeing their welfare -- at a cost
of S$260 -- but without making clear how and whether violators
can be dealt with.

To ensure maid agencies do not treat maids as chattels (which
too many unsavory agencies do), the embassy will also accredit
the reputable ones for an annual fee of $240. It is reported
Indonesia's labor and immigration departments have been
instructed to deal only with accredited ones, set at about a
quarter of the 600 to 700 licensed here.

The cut-off point seems arbitrary, and how can the embassy
tell which to avoid? The inherent weakness of using accreditation
as a market sieve is clear. If the Indonesian end and its
regulatory agencies can be counted upon to observe the list
scrupulously, fly-by-night outfits will deservedly go out of
business if the Philippines and Sri Lanka join in. If this is not
assured, the accredited status will not be worth the paper it is
printed on. Accreditation will just atrophy for lack of what it
needs most to survive -- honor and demonstrated quality.

The intention of the Indonesian plan is praiseworthy and is to
be welcome. It is to accord human decency and to demand minimum
labor standards in a largely unregulated service which has seen
abuse by disreputable maid agents (and their associate agents in
source countries) and some incredibly sadistic employers. Some
staple clauses of the employment agreement -- weekly day off,
three square meals a day, annual leave, paid home passage -- are
the minimum that could be asked for.

Incredibly, there are households which do not offer these in
full. Most maids, bar the more assertive Filipinos, do not get a
weekly rest day. It will be a blow to one's notions of decency if
the Indonesian plan, which we believe is motivated by a wish to
give maids much-needed protection, were to end up looking like
rent-seeking.

There are already two accreditation schemes for agencies
sanctioned by the Manpower Ministry. This manner of regulation
and audit which will be made mandatory from June next year is a
useful means of measuring reliability in a business that attracts
its share of slave-drivers and unconscionable exploiters of young
girls. Even this program is not having a smooth genesis.

The Consumers Association of Singapore's CaseTrust scheme has
had few agents signing on because its fees are considered steep
(they have been reduced). A cheaper rival plan run by the
Association of Employment Agencies of Singapore has just been
approved.

It is not time yet to judge if these programs, or compulsory
orientation for maid employers, could make up for the lack of
service contracts with the force of law. For many years, foreign
embassies have been used by their nationals as reporting points
for maid abuse. Singaporean volunteer groups devoted to maid
welfare, such as The Working Committee 2, remain vigilant.
Clearly, the golden mean for maid protection is still elusive.