Hiring a domestic helper in Kuala Lumpur

What does the Kuala Lumpur branch do?

The same two services we run in Kuching, filed to federal requirements. Which one you need comes down to a single question: do you already know who you want to employ?

Direct hire is the cheaper of the two because you have done the expensive part. Most of what an agency bills for is sourcing, and a household that already has a candidate is paying a placement fee for a placement nobody performed. What we charge for is the filing, which is genuinely hard to do yourself: a medical at a clinic Indonesia accepts, money moved to a candidate who has no bank account, biometrics, the calling visa and the certification her own government will check on the way out.

We quote the rest per case because distance decides it. A candidate in Surabaya with a current passport and a candidate four hours from the nearest accredited clinic cost different amounts to get onto a plane. Tell us where she is and we will price it inside one working day.

How is a Kuala Lumpur application different from a Sarawak one?

Sarawak kept control of its own immigration when it joined the Federation in 1963 and still runs it. So these are two applications to two authorities, and a permit issued in one is worth nothing in the other. If you employ a helper in Kuala Lumpur and later move to Kuching, that is a fresh application, and putting her to work before it is granted is an immigration offence committed by you.

Worth being straight about the last row. Kuching is where this firm lives and where the licence is held. Kuala Lumpur is a new branch, so book a time before you come rather than turning up expecting a counter.

What does a helper in Kuala Lumpur cost in the first year?

Her salary, and then everything else. An Indonesian helper's contract salary is RM1,500 a month and a Filipino helper's is RM1,800, so twelve months of wages is RM18,000 to RM21,600 before you count a single fee.

That is the number most quotes leave out, and leaving it out is how a household budgets for half of what it is about to spend. Whichever service you take, budget for the year and not for the setup.

What happens if the employment does not work out?

Sometimes it does not, and a household that cannot see the exit price is a household that stays in an arrangement that is not working. So here it is, quoted per case at these rates.

The gap between the two routes is the useful part. A settlement she signs costs RM1,500 whichever passport she holds; a dispute costs RM2,500 or RM3,500. If you reach the point of wanting her to leave, call us before you raise it with her. The cheaper route for you is also the one that sends her home with her wages settled instead of into a labour complaint.

What do you take on as her employer?

We’ll do the filing, the chasing and the arrival logistics. What we ask back is that the employment itself stays lawful, and on a direct hire that part is yours in a way it is not on a full placement.

• Pay the salary in the contract, in full, on time, into an account in her name.
• Give her the rest day the contract provides, or pay the overtime rate for it.
• Register her with PERKESO and keep the contributions current.
• Renew her permit before it lapses. A lapsed permit is your offence and hers.