Employer’s satisfaction and the vulnerability of Indonesian migrant domestic workers: Findings from the Klang Valley, Malaysia

The vulnerability of female migrant domestic workers at the workplace has indeed become a global issue. This study intends to find out whether there was a significance correlation of employer’s satisfaction with the vulnerability of migrant domestic workers at the workplace. Based on the results of field interviews in Malaysia’s Klang Valley of a sample of 150 employer respondents who did employ Indonesian migrant domestic workers it was found that the degree of the employer satisfaction fell into an “intermediate” or “moderate” category while that of the domestic worker’s vulnerability in the “low” category. Based on the responses of another sample of 150 Indonesian female migrant domestic workers it was found that the degree of the domestic workers’ vulnerability fell into the “intermediate” category. The results of the subsequent statistical tests revealed that there was a negative and significant correlation between the employer satisfaction and the vulnerability of the female migrant domestic workers. The paper concludes with a set of measures ranging from protection by law to politics and policies to improve the workers’ situation, and the imperative of enhancing the employer satisfaction too as this also weighs vitally on the reduction of the workers’ vulnerability.