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Domestic Helper Employer Responsibilities

One checklist page pulling together an employer’s reporting, medical, pay, and Immigration duties toward a domestic employee — each already sourced on its own dedicated guide.

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The short answer

An employer’s affirmative duties toward a domestic employee run across several different laws and agencies, and no single page states the whole list end to end — this one gathers them into one checklist rather than re-deriving any of them. Two duties bookend the relationship directly: report her hiring to the Director General of Labour within 30 days under s.57A, and report the end of her service within 30 days under s.57B, each carrying a fine of up to RM50,000. Alongside those, a household carries recurring duties — the FOMEMA medical exam ahead of each renewal, PERKESO registration under the Employment Injury Scheme, the wage-deduction limits set by s.24, and the weekly rest day under s.59 — each covered in its own dedicated guide. And if she’s leaving Malaysia, Immigration’s own position is that the employer’s responsibility for her continues until the Check-Out Memo process is actually completed.

At a glance

Report her hiring: Within 30 days (s.57A)Inform the Director General of Labour, in whatever manner the Director General determines; a fine of up to RM50,000 applies for non-compliance.
Report her service ending: Within 30 days (s.57B)The same Director General notification duty, triggered whenever her service ends for any reason, with the same RM50,000 fine ceiling.
Stay responsible until the Check-Out Memo closes: Immigration treats her as still employedIf she’s leaving Malaysia and the process isn’t completed, Immigration still holds the employer responsible for her — see the dedicated repatriation guide for the full process.
Scope: Peninsular Malaysia + Labuan onlySabah requires its own 14-day hiring report to the Sabah Manpower Department; Sarawak runs its own HAVEN-based Approval Letter and Labour Licence process instead.

The two reporting duties that bookend her employment

Section 57A, added by the 2022 amendment and in force from 1 January 2023, requires the employer to inform the Director General of Labour within 30 days of hiring her, in whatever manner the Director General determines. Non-compliance carries a fine of up to RM50,000 — the same ceiling that applies at the other end of the relationship.

Section 57B is the older of the two sections, and only its penalty changed in the 2023 amendment: within 30 days of her service ending, for any reason, the employer must inform the Director General of Labour, again on pain of a fine up to RM50,000. Read together, the two sections mean the reporting duty isn’t a one-off filing at the start of the relationship — it recurs any time the employment itself ends, however that happens.

Why the employer’s Immigration responsibility doesn’t end when she leaves the house

If she’s leaving Malaysia, filing the s.57B notice to the Labour Department is a separate step from closing out the Immigration side of her file. Immigration’s own position on an unfiled Check-Out Memo is direct: without it, she’s still considered to be under the employer’s employment, and the employer is still responsible for her.

In practice, that means the employer’s Immigration-side obligations continue past the day she stops working, right up until the Check-Out Memo process is actually completed, not just started. The dedicated guide on repatriation walks through that process and its document checklist in full; this page only flags that the responsibility exists, and when it ends.

The recurring duties, and where this checklist stops applying

Beyond the reporting and Check-Out Memo duties, an employer carries several ongoing obligations that each have their own dedicated guide on this site: a FOMEMA medical exam ahead of each permit renewal, PERKESO registration under the Employment Injury Scheme (mandatory, and employer-paid for a foreign domestic helper), the wage-deduction limits set by s.24 of the Employment Act, and the weekly rest day guaranteed by s.59. Treat this page as the index pointing to each of those, not a substitute for reading them.

All of it — s.57A, s.57B, the wage-deduction rules, and the rest-day entitlement — comes from the Employment Act, which applies to Peninsular Malaysia and Labuan only. Sabah runs its own separate reporting duty instead, a 14-day window to the Sabah Manpower Department rather than 30 days to the Director General of Labour; Sarawak runs its own HAVEN-based process, an Approval Letter followed by a Labour Licence, in place of the Peninsular framework entirely. Check the dedicated state guides before assuming any figure on this page carries over.

Official and primary sources

The rules and figures here follow official Malaysian sources as at the review date, and your own situation can differ. Check what applies to your own case with the Immigration Department of Malaysia for permits and passes, or the Department of Labour Peninsular Malaysia for agency licensing and employment terms, before you act on it.

Questions this page answers

How long do I have to report hiring her?

30 days, under s.57A — inform the Director General of Labour, in whatever manner the Director General determines. Non-compliance carries a fine of up to RM50,000.

What about when her employment ends?

The same 30-day window applies under s.57B, whatever the reason her service ends, with the same RM50,000 fine ceiling.

Am I still responsible for her if she’s leaving Malaysia and the process isn’t finished?

Yes — Immigration’s own position is that without a completed Check-Out Memo, she’s still considered to be under the employer’s employment, and the employer is still responsible for her. See the dedicated repatriation guide for the full process.

Does this whole checklist apply in Sabah or Sarawak?

No — this checklist is built on the Employment Act, which reaches Peninsular Malaysia and Labuan only. Sabah requires its own 14-day hiring report to the Sabah Manpower Department; Sarawak runs its own HAVEN-based Approval Letter and Labour Licence process instead.

Where do I find the detail behind the medical exam, PERKESO, wage-deduction and rest-day duties mentioned here?

Each has its own dedicated guide on this site — the medical exam, PERKESO registration, wage-deduction limits, and rest-day entitlement are covered there in full; this page only organizes them into one checklist.

Useful next guides

Domestic Helper Employer Responsibilities

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DomesticHelper editorial teamReviewed 14 August 2026Sourced from Malaysian government registriesIndependent of the hiring agenciesEditorial standards