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.