The nature of relationship between domestic helpers and employers; issues from domestic helper's agency perspectives

Abstract

Thousands of domestic helpers are employed each year to work in the homes of many Malaysians. Within this situation of the living-in employees, the distinctions between family and professional relationships become blurred and the privacy of the personal space may potentially being compromised. This phenomenon is somewhat unique and particularly interesting for researchers studying interpersonal relationships. This study is part of a bigger study on the nature of relationship between domestic helpers and their employers. In this study, key person from 20 agencies of domestic helpers from around Pulau Pinang and Kuala Lumpur were interviewed. The structured interviews consist of questions on background information of the company, services provided to the clients and the kind of problems they have observed as frequently occurring within the relationships of domestic helpers and their employers. Preliminary finding suggest there were specializations in the kind of services provided by the domestic helper's agents and they generally made an attempt to match between employers an employees. They also reported mainly good relationship between domestic helpers and employers. However, problem did occur and they were in the forms of mismatching expectations between employers and employees. Findings are discussed within the bigger context of the study.