Maid agency Johor Bahru Malaysia: FDW refuses to accompany family despite contract agreement

A frustrated employer associated with a maid agency in Johor Bahru Malaysia took to social media after her foreign domestic worker (FDW) refused to go with the family to JB, Malaysia, despite agreeing to it in her contract,  leading to a notable FDW Refusal to Travel situation.

In her post to the Facebook group FDW in Singapore (working conditions forum), the employer said that in her case, her helper, recruited through the maid agency Johor Bahru Malaysia, “agreed during the interview at the agency that she will follow us back to JB coz we have another house there. Plus we put it in the contract that she has to follow us”. This issue underlines the increasing incidents of foreign domestic worker contract disputes.

She added that her maid would work for only four to five hours a day before resting. The maid would take frequent naps, use her phone liberally, and watch YouTube videos. The employer also added that the maid told her to knock on the helper’s room door to call her should she need any help. 

However, when the employer, who had hired the FDW through the maid agency Johor Bahru Malaysia, recently asked her maid to accompany the family to JB for four days, the FDW refused, leading to a contentious FDW refusal to travel situation. The maid justified her refusal by saying that she wanted to rest in Singapore.

The employer cited several reasons in her post for wanting her maid to accompany the family to JB, highlighting the complexity of foreign domestic worker contract disputes.

“1- its in her contract that she have to follow us when we travel.

2- don’t want to leave her alone at home coz she break my trust b4.