Domestic Worker Contract

fastpitch17

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Does anyone actually utilize a Domestic Worker Contract between a family and say a housekeeper? Is there some type of requirement for it or is that just something if they ever pass the Domestic Worker Bill that has been floating in the DPR for years?

We have never used one and am only inquiring simply because it came up in a conversation when someone asked if we use it. I would be curious to see one and to know what anyone could actually include in it. Doesn't seem to me that it would be something enforceable here except if there were dishonesty or some type of breaking the kaw stuff included.


Any thoughts?
 
Most contracts for domestic workers that I’ve heard of favor the employer by a large margin.

We’ve never used any contracts with any maids or nurses we’ve hired.
 
Most contracts for domestic workers that I’ve heard of favor the employer by a large margin.

We’ve never used any contracts with any maids or nurses we’ve hired.
Thanks Jaime C
We have never used on or even seen one. No one I know here uses them. I was asked and hoped maybe I could find someone here that did use them. I do know they have been mentioned before as something employers of household staff are supposed to be utilizing and I think if that law on domestic help ever gets passed they will be mandatory. I know there is a push right now to get that law passed but will probably end up like it alwqys does, forgotten for awhile.

I can see that something like this would highly favor the employer. I know that if I had to draw one up, mine certainly would. I can also see something like this used more for a live in type of domestic worker. Something we will never have. Once was enough and a lesson learned.
 
I did find this ilder thread.
 
The absence of a written contract means that a verbal contract exists instead, as well as contractual obligations-for paying salary, doing the job, the scope of work, etc.

However, it is interesting how domestic workers in practice are not treated by Law on Manpower, as the Law clearly states that employers can be individuals, and makes the distinction between individuals and entrepreneurs as well.

Art 1 of the Law: "Pemberi kerja adalah orang perseorangan, pengusaha, badan hukum, atau badan-badan lainnya yang mempekerjakan tenaga kerja dengan membayar upah atau imbalan dalam bentuk lain. An employer is individual, entrepreneur, legal entity, or other entity that employ manpower by paying them wages or other forms of remuneration."

It is interesting that some advocacy groups did not point to this.

That being said, it is better to have a contract with the domestic worker, as a verbal contract will be deemed a permanent contract by the Law.
 
The absence of a written contract means that a verbal contract exists instead, as well as contractual obligations-for paying salary, doing the job, the scope of work, etc.

That being said, it is better to have a contract with the domestic worker, as a verbal contract will be deemed a permanent contract by the Law.
If a verbal contract is permanent it must be very one sided against the individual employers. How many times have you heard someone talking about how their housekeeper never returned from Mudik? With verbal, any side can just say that wasn't part of our agreement or either side can claim agreements that were never made. I can't see how any verbal agreement for this purpose could ever hold up in a court of law.
 
If a verbal contract is permanent it must be very one sided against the individual employers. How many times have you heard someone talking about how their housekeeper never returned from Mudik? With verbal, any side can just say that wasn't part of our agreement or either side can claim agreements that were never made. I can't see how any verbal agreement for this purpose could ever hold up in a court of law.
If some elements of a work agreement cannot be proven, a court would do it based on evidence from the parties (including statements, proof of payments, etc).

I suppose if domestic workers are paid well, they would come back from Mudik happily to work. If they are not coming back, consider it a non-verbal resignation.
 
I just don’t think that most employers or employees are running to court often. I know that when we’ve paid over the local rate for a live in helper, that they don’t come back after Idul Fitri half the time. Or try to hold you hostage for a big raise.

We had this happen in 2020. Large amount of unemployment during Covid. Worker said she’d be back. Then the day she was supposed to show up, said she’d only come back for a 20% raise. We declined, and found someone else. For months, this lady kept calling and texting my wife or mother-in-law to check if the position was vacant.

She even came back to Bandung so sure we’d just give her the big raise. Lived here for months, not sure what kind of work, if any, she was doing here.
 
Keeping workers is a balancing act but it ultimately comes down to how you treat them as well as what you pay them IMHO. I much prefer to keep the same workers long term. Never needed a contract and don't really see that it would change anything. We have 6 staff in total (my wife has a clothing business) and most of them have been with her for 10+ years. If you treat them fairly and pay them competitively they will stick around.
 
Considering the state of the Indonesian court system, the likelihood that a dispute goes all the way to a civil court is microscopic. What are the chances for your household assistant paying a lawyer and taking you to court? It only applies if you’re a celebrity raking in billions of Rupiahs a month and paying your ART dozens of millions.

It sucks to be a domestic worker in Indonesia, but the alternative is often worse.

It’s not always one-sided though. We have had workers who stole from us, and it was still not worth involving the police and the court.
 
Considering the state of the Indonesian court system, the likelihood that a dispute goes all the way to a civil court is microscopic. What are the chances for your household assistant paying a lawyer and taking you to court? It only applies if you’re a celebrity raking in billions of Rupiahs a month and paying your ART dozens of millions.

It sucks to be a domestic worker in Indonesia, but the alternative is often worse.

It’s not always one-sided though. We have had workers who stole from us, and it was still not worth involving the police and the court.
True, the vast majority of domestic workers would never hire an attorney. We always made it a point to put honesty high on our list of demands from any domestic worker. We do tell them that any dishonesty will lead to dismissal and the police being contacted. No problem so far although the lies and stories seem second nature for them but it seems to be something that exist throught the nation.
 
With verbal, any side can just say that wasn't part of our agreement or either side can claim agreements that were never made.
From where I sit, whether contracts or verbal agreements, in practice it becomes a game of "testing the boundaries" as far as domestic workers are concerned.

My wife and I had a domestic worker until not too long ago. Honest, did her work well etc. But then one year she asked if she could go back to her kampung outside of Idul Fitri holidays because her mother was sick. We allowed her to go back and she came back again to work after a few weeks. But it became a habit and we noticed that her mother was "sick" three years in a row at the midpoint between the last and the next Idul Fitri. Basically she was now going back to her kampung twice a year, even during the pandemic.

It was hard to stop both because there was the previous year's precedent and because we didn't want to feel like the bad guys if her mother truly was ill. Then I said "Mother sick three years in a row midway between the last and the next Idul Fitri? Come on, she's running circles around us"

Finally we put our foot down when she was pushing for a third trip back to the kampung (like literally within a month of her coming back from one trip, she was already beginning to hint she might want to make another trip). She then rather impulsively said "Okay, then I resign" and we accepted it.
 
Unacceptable behavior.

In the good old days, we had chattel slavery in US and serfdom in Europe, so the members of the underclass could not run away so easily.
 
You could argue that with legal contracts and a legal system strongly favouring employers plus insufficient wages, Western countries still have a form of serfdom for the large group of low paid workers that exist. Domestic workers in Indonesia are basically free to come and go as they please, for example if they get a better offer, which seems much better for them. The ones working in HK or Singapore are not so lucky.
 
Losing a Rolls-Royce hurts badly, never having one doesn’t.
 

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