If you are employing a live-in foreign domestic helper, you must ensure that you feed your employee thrice a day.

This is among the "tips" given to employers in a guideline issued by the Ministry of Human Resources, as published on the Labour Department's website.

"Food is important to ensure the happiness and health of a foreign domestic worker. Employers are advised to discuss with their workers what their food needs are.

"Ensure there is ample nutritious food provided at least three times a day. As an employer, you are forbidden to charge or make any salary deductions for food," the guideline states.

Conventionally, it states, domestic workers will eat the same food they cook for their employers but if their employers prefer to eat at restaurants instead, the employer must provide fresh ingredients so the worker can cook for herself.

Employers are also advised to provide a bed, mattress and storage space for their workers, in a room with ample natural light and ventilation.

The guideline also tells employers to give their workers a day off a week, allow them to socialise and ensure that they can observe religious obligations.

"I feel it is important for employers to realise that their foreign domestic workers may have come from a community or neighbourhood which is not gated, and were constantly in communication with their neighbours.

We cannot treat them like prisoners in our homes. We can set rules but we must acknowledge that they need to communicate with others," said an employer, identified only as Puan JL, in the guideline.

Other do's and don'ts according to the 71 page guideline include:

Do

  • Have a contract detailing both the workers' and employers' obligations in languages that both understand;
  • Outline working hours, provide for one day off a week and provide compensation for work done beyond the agreed upon terms;
  • Pay extra for round-the-clock care provided for children or the infirm, and hire professional help if the domestic worker is unwilling to do so;
  • Assist workers' to open local bank accounts and teach them how to use their ATM/debit cards;
  • Allow workers eight hours' sleep each day;
  • Advise workers on Malaysian cultural norms;
  • Allow workers to socialise and leave the home on off days, but set clear guideline;
  • Ensure workers carry their passports, work permits and I-Kads when they leave the home;
  • Provide workers with mobile telephones with a list of emergency contact numbers;
  • Advise workers on safe sex and remind them that their working visa is null and void if they fall pregnant;
  • Provide workers with personal hygiene products like deodorant and toothpaste and ensure they keep themselves clean;
  • Pay workers' medical bills; and
  • Allow them to return home regularly, and arrange for the home leave through the employment agency.


Don't

  • Make workers fix the roof, fix electrical items, climb trees or do things which require specialised skills;
  • Make workers help in commercial ventures;
  • Make workers clean other people's homes, including that of relatives, unless the worker agrees to do so for compensation; and
  • Assault or verbally abuse workers.

The full guideline is below: