Cost of maid recruitment set to increase

The cost of recruiting Indonesian maids incurred by employers will increase further compared to the amount agreed upon in the memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed between the Malaysian and Indonesian governments in 2011.

Malaysia National Association of Employment Agencies (PIKAP) president, Datuk Raja Zulkepley Dahalan said the increase was necessary as the cost agreed upon earlier could not be implemented as it only involved the cost incurred by both employers and maids only.

"The cost structure agreed earlier was RM4,511 as payment for the recruitment of an Indonesian maid by the employer to the agency including the RM1,800 payment for the maid's advance by the employer to the employment agency.

"It only involved two costs, namely the employer's and the maid's but unfortunately the cost did not take into consideration the cost borne by the agency such as me and what was borne by the agency there,"

He said this after the signing of an MoU between Asosiasi Perusahaan Jasa Tenaga Kerja Indonesia (Apjati), PIKAP and the Malaysian Association of Foreign Maid Agencies (Papa), here, on Monday.

He said the shortcomings in the earlier MoU resulted in it not being able to be implemented and the MoU had to be reviewed on the issues.

"We have been called to review it four times with the Human Resources Ministry before the increase was decided," he said, adding that the latest cost to be announced would be seen as being more relevant and reasonable.

Raja Zulkepley said the announcement of the cost, however, would be made by the government soon.

The MoU on the recruitment of Indonesian maids which was signed in 2011 set RM4,511 as payment for taking in an Indonesian maid by a Malaysian employer.

The cost involved a total of RM2,711 which would be borne by the employer while RM1,800 as the maid's payment would be advanced by the employer to the employment agency.