PETALING JAYA, Jan 4 – Malaysians prefer to hire foreign maids through agents although the government has allowed direct hiring from Jan 1, the Malaysian Association for Foreign Maid Agencies (Papa) has said. It said direct hiring is too complicated and time-consuming, the Malaysian Reserve reported on its portal today.
According to Papa president Jeffrey Foo, the process of hiring a foreign maid, especially from popular source countries like Indonesia, the Philippines and Cambodia directly is not easy because their governments stipulate that a professional agency must be involved.
“The government of these countries will not allow their people to be hired unless it’s done through professional agencies,” the Reserve quoted Foo as saying. “Malaysians who want to hire maids from any of the three countries will need to go through local agencies there that have agreements with counterparts here. If Malaysians want to hire a maid, they need to go through the agencies.”
He said these three countries had set strict requirements for their citizens to be employed directly abroad. “They, especially want to protect female workers from exploitation and abuse. That is why they have laws which require recruitment to be done through employment agencies that are licensed in both countries,” he said.
He advised Malaysians to use agencies as it is also safer for both maid and employer. “If they get hired directly and there is a dispute with the employer, who is going to step in? You cannot just depend on the Home Ministry, or the Immigration Department.
“It is necessary to have a third party to provide the needed welfare service for the maids, because these agencies play a vital role in protecting foreign maids,” he said. He added that if a direct-hire domestic helper absconded, the employer would have to hire a new maid.
“However, with an agent in the middle, any grievance can be resolved, while counselling services can be provided for the maid, and finding a replacement is not a hassle,” he said. Most agencies in Malaysia offer a three-month guarantee, which would also expedite replacement for maids who abscond, the report said.
