NST:2010/02/23
NIBONG TEBAL: Human Resources Minister Datuk Seri S. Subramaniam has given an assurance that the familiarisation course for employers and foreign maids would not be conducted by private parties.
Instead, he said, the course would be conducted personally by the Labour Department.
He was commenting on the Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) statement yesterday which called on the government not to privatise the course.
"The familiarisation course is vital to the employers, as well as to the foreign maids and their agents," he told reporters after visiting the Arumugam Pillai Industrial Training Institute here today.
Yesterday, the MTUC expressed concern that if the course were to be privatised, it would burden the workers.
Effective next month, employers and their newly-employed maids would be compelled to attend a half-day course to help them understand and improve their working relations. Meanwhile, Subramaniam said the government could not set the minimum salary for maids as it was determined by the market.
"At present, we have decided to let the market determine the salary for the maids. Most of them currently receive between RM500 and RM600," he explained.
He said, no memorandum of understanding had so far, been signed between the government and a source country to state a fixed minimum salary for the workers.
"We have 12 source countries and if the minimum salary is fixed, problems will occur. So, we have to be very careful about this," added the minister. - Bernama
Source: NST
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