Indonesian maids to get minimum RM1,500 salary as per MOU, says Saravanan

PETALING JAYA: Indonesian domestic workers will receive a salary of RM1,500 as per the bilateral memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed between Malaysia and Indonesia, says Human Resources Minister M. Saravanan.

"Yes, it is RM1,500 as per our MOU," he told The Star on Saturday (April 30).

Saravanan said the wage rate for other nationalities varies, depending on the agreement between Malaysia and the source country.

He was clarifying an earlier statement where Saravanan said the minimum wage of RM1,500 would not apply to domestic workers.

"However, domestic workers from Indonesia will be paid not less than the rate of the minimum wage that is being used in this country as per the memorandum of understanding (MOU) on the employment and protection of Indonesian domestic servants (PDI) inked on April 1, 2022," he said in a statement on Saturday (April 30).

As the new minimum wage rate comes into effect on Sunday (May 1), Saravanan had said the implementation will not be delayed for any sectors or jobs as the government has assisted employers with Covid-19 aid packages such as the wage subsidy programme, which has allowed them to retain their staff.

“This is to ensure that employers are able to benefit from the increase in the minimum wage,” he said.

He added that the enforcement would be carried out by the Labour Department in Peninsular Malaysia as well as Sabah and Sarawak.

“On that note, all employers are urged to comply with the implementation of the new rate,” he said.

Saravanan said the new rate was reasonable and would ensure that the welfare of low-income groups was taken care of, adding that employers too would benefit from the increase in purchasing power.

Employers with five or more staff members are required to implement the minimum wage under the rules of the Malaysia Standard Classification of Occupations (Masco) published by the Human Resources Ministry.

The new rate, however, will not apply to employers with less than five employees and they can continue with the previous minimum wage rate of RM1,200 until year-end.

They will only be required to adhere to the new rate from Jan 1. The new minimum wage rate was gazetted in the Federal Gazette on April 27.

Saravanan said previously that the wages of domestic workers from Indonesia would start at RM1,200.