No maximum efforts yet to protect domestic workers

That afternoon, the sun was burning. The bandanna covering some of her hair looked wet. Sweat was profusely dripping on the temples of her eyes. By her hand, she was swiping sweat from pores on her face. The woman did not care to get burned under the heat. Her smile was even getting broader.

A cool room had been waiting for her arrival. The sofa there would surely be comfortable for her to lean on it for a moment. But it was not the reason why Wina Ningsih (34 years old) looked excited. Some men in safari suits with golden Garuda pins on their chests were escorting her entering the parliament building.

"So, how is the development of this Draft Law on the Protection of Domestic Workers?” Wina raised a question to some representatives of the lawmakers.

Wina is a domestic worker at the Green View Apartment in Jakarta. Along with dozens of others, she staged a rally in front of the parliament building. They demanded the lawmakers to include the draft law into the priority list of the National Legislation Program.

Since the middle of the day, she had been involved in the rally. But only at around 3 p.m., the lawmakers’ representatives met them. Commission IX Chairman Dede Yusuf (Democrat faction) and Commission IX member Nursuhud (PDI-Perjuangan faction) welcomed Wina. They agreed to talk in the commission’s meeting room.

Wina felt relieved for a moment. But not long after that, Dede Yusuf lost his good mood. The commission’s chairman said that the draft law was still lack of evidence so that it was not strong enough to be included into the priority list. Upon hearing that, Wina’s smile was fading away. She then raised a series of questions.

"What kind of evidence? Is it still not enough for you to see the domestic workers’ sufferings? Are violence cases against domestic workers by their employers still not enough yet?” she asked, responding to the argument.

The draft law was finally neglected again. It had been stalled for 11 years without any clear explanation. On February 5, 2015, the Working Committee of the Legislation Body kicked the draft law out of deliberation. Even during a plenary session on February 10, the House did not make any decision that was in favor of domestic workers.

Wina remembered how the plenary session, which was chaired by House Deputy Speaker Fadli Zon, was ongoing at that time. The debate on the draft law was intense. She did not care who had supported and who had opposed it. However, the whole debate was finally ended by a statement of PDI-Perjuangan faction’s member Arief Wibowo.

“We just refer to the decision once made by the Working Committee of the Legislation Body,” Arief said at that time.

House speaker and his deputies temporarily suspended the deliberation of the draft law. However, the last statement of the session’s chairman brought some fresh wind to domestic workers and those who had proposed it. “Draft laws that are still being debated can still be proposed again through their respective commissions,” Fadli Zon said.

His statement was kept in mind by the domestic workers. They still thought of having high hopes that the draft law would be included into the 2015 priority list. At about 4 p.m., their meeting concluded. The House’ Commission IX, through Dede Yusuf, said that they would try their best to pass the draft law. He planned to communicate it with the Legislation Body.
"The draft law can still be included into the national legislative program. The Commission IX will submit it again to the Legislation Body,” Nursuhud finally said, calming down Wina and her domestic worker colleagues there.

Not long after the meeting, Dede Yusuf did send a letter to the Legislation Body. However, again, their answer failed to satisfy domestic workers. The decision by a plenary session yesterday was unanimously agreed. The draft law could not be one of the priorities. After the decision, Wina could finally feel the heat of the sun.

“The draft law was not considered ready for deliberation,” Dede told Republika.

They suggested the Commission IX to prioritize the Draft Law on Industrial Relations and Protection of Overseas Workers. How about the Draft Law on the Protection of Domestic Workers? Dede said that it will be submitted again in 2016. Thus, there is still a chance next year.

"Each commission is only limited to propose two draft laws. We don’t put aside the Draft Law on the Protection of Domestic Workers. This is only a matter of waiting in queue,” he said.

Moreover, the draft law will be overlapping with the Draft Law on Industrial Relations and Protection of Overseas Workers. Both have a similar essence – talking about the protection of workers. Judging from the current issue, he expressed belief that it is basically more urgent to discuss about Indonesian workers overseas.

For a year, Dede Yusuf and other Commission IX members will also conduct a thorough study to the draft law, including by asking the opinions of housewives who hire domestic workers or employers. Their voices are needed to be heard to make the legislation more balanced.

The matter they are going to deliberate in the future will be about the salary of domestic workers. If the draft law stipulates that the salary must be in accordance to minimum regional wage, how it will be calculated. For example, if the domestic worker lives with his or her employer, it means that his or her accommodation and meal will have been guaranteed.

“So, if the minimum wage in Jakarta is Rp. 2.7 million, a live-in domestic worker can only gain a total salary of Rp. 1.5 million, because they calculate that a rental room will cost Rp. 500,000 a month, meal Rp. 600,000 a month and electricity Rp 100,000. In total, those expenses will be Rp. 1.2 million,” Dede explained.

About working hours, the employers must agree since the very beginning whether they want their domestic workers work for only 10 hours, from morning to 5 p.m. before they can take a rest. He said that he wants the draft law stipulates about the protection for domestic workers by fulfilling their rights.

He hoped that domestic workers can get annual leave, have the rights to gather and involve in organization and receive Eid al-Fitr bonus. Meanwhile, for salary and working hours, it shall depend on the agreement between both sides, because not all employers hire domestic workers from agents. When there is an element of kinship, it needs to be clarified.

Irgan Choirul Mahfidz (PPP), former chairman of the working committee, explained that the current House should 'carry over' the existing draft law. According to him, only a little adjustment on the articles is needed. Then, the Commission IX can bring the draft law back to the Legislation Body.

The Commission IX is tasked to set up a perspective of protection for domestic workers, because the draft law shall not be valid only for a certain region, but for all. The regulations on domestic workers in urban and rural areas must be similar, from the working contract to the system of salary payment.

The House should create what kind of system to apply if a domestic worker is hired by an employer personally, such as coming from his or her relatives, own family members or a domestic worker in the kraton circle. Thus, the draft law should not be directed only at those coming from agents.

“If the draft law is only directed at domestic workers as laborers, it would be better to revise the Law on Manpower,” Irgan said.

The draft law is not only stalled in its deliberation at the House. Since adopting it in 2011, the Indonesian government has also been reluctant to ratify the ILO Convention No. 189. The substance of the convention is to invite the parties in its efforts to protect domestic workers. The government said there has been no law to regulate its ratification.

Guntur Witjaksono, expert staff on overseas cooperation at the Ministry of Manpower, said that although the government has not ratified the ILO Convention No. 189, the country has a special regulation for domestic worker – the Ministerial Regulation No. 2 Year 2015 on the Protection of Domestic Workers.

The regulation, however, contains no exact standards on the mechanisms of protection for domestic workers. “It does let the agreement to be agreed by both sides, domestic workers and employers. But, at least, it can raise awareness. That’s the first thing we want to see,” Guntur said.

He claimed that the content of the ministerial regulation a bit adopts the convention. Although they are not exactly similar, the ministerial regulation is at least seen as being more matched to the condition of the Indonesian people. According to Guntur, it is difficult to intervene domestic matters. That is why the ministerial regulation does not stipulate any sanctions.

"According to the Law No. 12 on Legislation, a ministerial regulation does not do include any clauses about sanctions. It is only applied to by-laws,” Muji Handaya, director general for manpower advocacy and supervision at the Ministry of Manpower, said.

He added that the ministerial regulation will be followed by by-laws. The Ministry of Manpower will urged regional chiefs to issue regulations regarding domestic workers in their respective regions. What kind of working contract and salary payment must be regulated in details in the by-laws.

"The government has not ratified the ILO Convention because it is afraid that it will be overlapped with the Draft Law on the Protection of Domestic Workers at the House. We have not had the format of its national regulations,” he said.
He also admitted that the substance of the ministerial regulation is very minimal. “But at least, there are regulations on the minimum age, rights of domestic workers, such as wage, social security guarantee and health insurance for them,” Muji concluded.

This article is the final in-depth article on rights of domestic workers from a series of three in-depth articles by Andi Mohammad Ikhbal of Republika and published on 21 August 2015. The article is part of the ILO’s media fellowship programme on domestic workers and child domestic labour, jointly conducted in collaboration with the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) Jakarta and eight selected leading, national mass media. The media fellowship programme was part of the campaign conducted by the ILO through its Promoting Decent Work for Domestic Workers to End Child Domestic Work (PROMOTE) Project. Funded by the United States Department of Labour (USDOL), PROMOTE Project aims at reducing child domestic workers significantly by building institutional capacities of partners to promote Decent Work for Domestic Workers (DWDW) effectively. The Project works to increase the knowledge, skills and expertise on reducing child domestic workers and promote DWDW.