Almost a third of domestic workers employed at homes in Malaysia work under conditions of forced labour, according to a survey released yesterday by the International Labor Organization (ILO).

This United Nations agency lists among these conditions excessive working hours, unpaid overtime, low wages, restriction of movement and prohibition of resignation.

The research, which was based on interviews with 1,201 domestic workers in Southeast Asia, found that 29% of them in Malaysia face such conditions compared to 7% and 4% in neighboring Singapore and of Thailand respectively.

Malaysia did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the investigation’s findings.

Wanarat Srisuksai, a spokesman for Thailand’s labor ministry, said treatment of domestic workers in the country has improved since laws were enacted in 2012 to protect this group of workers.

Singapore’s Ministry of Manpower has announced that the vast majority of migrant domestic workers are satisfied with living and working conditions in Singapore with safeguards including timely payment of wages, adequate daily rest, adequate feeding and housing and regular medical examinations.

In all three of these countries, however, the domestic helpers surveyed worked “considerably more hours” on average than the statutory hours for other workers, and all were paid below the minimum basic wage, according to the ILO.

“Domestic work is one of the most important jobs in our society and yet it is provided with the least possible protection. This must no longer be tolerated,” said Anna Engblom, the chief technical adviser of the ILO program that carried out the research.

The Agency called on Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand to ratify the United Nations Convention on Domestic Workers and Forced Labour, recognize demanding domestic work and ensure migration pathways that do not make workers dependent by their employers.

Households in Asia often employ domestic workers–usually women from developing countries such as Indonesia, Myanmar, and the Philippines–to handle household tasks such as cooking, cleaning, childcare, and gardening.

Malaysia has faced criticism in recent years after several incidents of Indonesian domestic workers being abused in Malaysian households, while many of the country’s companies have been accused of exploiting migrant workers.

Indonesians make up about 80% of domestic workers in Malaysia, according to the ILO. Last year, Malaysia and Indonesia signed an agreement to improve protection measures for domestic workers.