As the 48-year-old single mother of two struggled to clean up the mess in her house, she called her employers to tell them about her plight.

The husband was sympathetic but the wife said she would have to work on Monday morning. When Kamarini said she could not because the cleaning-up would take at least two days, they sacked her.

Kamarini was in tears as she spoke of her predicament. “I used to be a Grab driver, but I gave it up after I got this job,” she said. “I have been working with the couple for a year. That’s the only income I have.

“I am a single mother; so I have to do the cleaning up on my own. I was away at my father’s house when the floods hit. I came back on Sunday morning after the water had subsided to see the terrible mess.

“But my employers did not understand my position.

“Losing all that furniture and seeing my house in a mess was painful but I felt I could fight my way back and recover. But when my employer did this to me, it was just too much to bear.”

She has since spoken to a unionist and he has told her to seek help from Socso.

Kamarini is not alone. There are many employers who are disregarding the plight of employees affected by the floods.

Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) said yesterday that many flood victims, especially in the Klang Valley, were being forced by their employers to return to work despite their hardship.

Some have been sacked for not showing up and others are facing the threat of pay cuts. Some were warned by employers not to take emergency leave, said PSM labour bureau coordinator Sivaranjani Manickam.

She said her party had received numerous complaints from flood-hit workers over the past few days.