Luh De Suriyani, Contributor, Denpasar – The majority of domestic workers, which number about two hundred thousand on Bali island, have yet to receive their two basic rights for regular days off and medical benefits from their employers, a labor activist said.

"A large number of households in Bali, including those of expatriates, employ domestic workers. Unfortunately, they are still neglecting these two basic rights," Yastianti of the Bali's Legal Aid Institute (LBH) said.

She explained this during a public consultation to discuss a draft bill on protection of domestic workers jointly organized by Jala PRT, a national network of domestic workers, LBH Bali and the Bali administration here, Friday.

The category of domestic workers includes various jobs hired by householders, including housemaids, babysitters, drivers and gardeners.

The bill was drafted in an effort to provide domestic workers with legal status and protection from abuses, violence and discrimination.

The draft, stipulates that domestic workers should be at least 18 years of age. Those below this minimum age are considered child labour. Employing child labour is illegal in this country.

I Nyoman Ledang Asmara, head of Yayasan Sejahtera Berhasil, a Denpasar-based domestic workers' agency, estimated the total number of domestic workers in the island at around 200,000.

"The number was compiled with registered domestic workers' agencies," he said, hinting that the total number could be much higher.

Currently, there are 28 registered agencies in the island.

Member of the Bali Legislative Council's Commission I, I Wayan Ardita, admitted that the Bali administration had yet to produce a regional bylaw on the protection of domestic workers.

He agreed that informal sector workers, including domestic workers, were vulnerable to mistreatment and rights violations.

"Many women and children become domestic workers because Bali is still facing the problem of lack of job opportunities, as well as low quality of human resources," he said.

The National Coordinator of Jala PRT, Lita Anggreni said that based on her research, it was impossible for a domestic worker to carry out every wish and whim of his or her employer.

"They carry out all their duties, but only a fraction of domestic workers receive all their rights," she pointed out.

She explained that domestic workers could work for an average of twelve hours per day, because most of them stayed in their employers' houses.

Most, she added, did not get a day off, received their pay later than the scheduled dates, were subject to unilateral pay cuts, were prohibited from fraternizing and shouldered an excessive work load.

"Such practices are equal to subjecting them to continuing poverty," she said.

Unfortunately, Bali has yet to have an organization that will focus on assisting and empowering domestic workers.

Bali had a higher risk of abuse due to generally higher workloads which the island's domestic workers were required handle.

The high workloads, she said, were mostly due the Balinese householders obligations to carry out a series of customary and religious rituals.

Ledang Asmara concurred, but urged that the bill should also detail the domestic workers' obligations.

"I agree that the bill on domestic workers' protection must be ratified. But, it should not only regulate domestic workers' rights, but also define their obligations (to their employers)," he said.

The draft bill contains several articles regarded as controversial by domestic workers' employers. These include provisions on overtime payments, annual leave, pregnancy leave and health benefits.

"It will be very difficult to implement the bill because each region has a different set of norms and customs on how to treat domestic workers," Atik, a housewife, said.

Atik suggested that agreement should be reached through a mutually-beneficial compromise between employers and domestic workers.

"A government regulation will only bind us into a less family-like relationship with our maid," she added.