Few Indonesian maids get legal wage
Employment agencies do not inform applicants of the minimum payment, a new study has revealed
Only about 15 per cent of Indonesian domestic workers in Hong Kong are paid the legal minimum wage, a new survey has found.
The Asia Pacific Mission for Migrants said the study showed that 85 per cent of the 78,000 Indonesian workers were paid below the legal minimum wage. In the survey of 400 respondents, 35 per cent said they were paid less than $2,000 and about half between $2,000 and $3,000 a month. Only 15 per cent were paid the legal wage of $3,670.
The problem was worse among Indonesian migrants because employment agencies were giving them misinformation, said Ramon Bultron, the Hong Kong-based mission's managing director. 'They're told their salary will be about $2,000 or less. They only learn about the minimum wage when they start working in Hong Kong,' he said.
Ruayu Gamilatun, 33, came to Hong Kong two years ago to find a better way to earn a living for her four daughters in Indonesia. Instead what she found was a scam. Her employer paid her $1,670 less than the required monthly wage of $3,670, made her sign a report each month stating she had received the full amount and gave her no time off for the first six months.Local workers groups have brought this to the attention of the Indonesian government in light of recent policies to restrict migrant workers from coming to Hong Kong.
The Indonesian government has temporarily suspended the deployment of new migrant workers in the Asia Pacific and Middle East regions, but it has insisted that this was not in retaliation to the Hong Kong government's imposition of a $400 monthly levy on foreign maids. The minimum wage for maids will be reduced to $3,270 from April 1. Indonesian maids whose contracts are expiring are required to return there for a month before returning to Hong Kong for a new contract.
The Indonesian consulate in Hong Kong used to process about 1,500 new contracts a month prior to the ban, according to a consulate official. Despite the large number of underpaid Indonesian workers, very few file complaints because they are afraid of losing their jobs.
The Labour Department received 94 complaints of underpayment last year from foreign domestic workers, up from 84 cases in 2001 and 54 cases in 2000. But there are no separate breakdowns of these complaints filed by Indonesian maids.
Under the present law, employers who underpay their domestic workers could face a maximum fine of $200,000 and imprisonment of one year.
'Workers don't complain because they're afraid they'd get sent back,' said Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions general secretary Lee Cheuk-yan. After quitting last April, Ms Gamilatun is waiting for an appeal to get the $56,000 she is seeking from her employer. She lives in a shelter in Jordan.
litany of abuse
Study shows about 85 per cent of Indonesian maids receive less than the legal minimum wage
About 35 per cent receive less than $2,000 per month
About 50 per cent are paid between $2,000 and $3,000
