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Help for maids |
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About one in seven households in Singapore
employs a foreign domestic worker (FDW). There are
more than 150,000 of them in Singapore. Madam Siti
Rubaiah Eskar, who works in the Ministry of Manpower’s
(MOM) Foreign Manpower Management Division, talks
about what is being done to protect the well-being
of these FDWs.
Since joining the Foreign Worker Employment Standards
Branch in 2003, Madam Siti has lent her ears to
many distressed FDWs.
Many of them complained that their employer did
not pay their salary. One said she had to pay for
her own food and movie ticket when she joined her
employer on their family outings.
Another said that once when she made a mistake,
her employer’s brother-in-law poured water
into her tin of biscuits and made her crawl around
the house on her hands and knees. Whenever the employer
went out, he would lock the main and kitchen doors
so that she could not leave the house nor enter
the kitchen to take food.
In another case, the employer made her FDW stay
with her bedridden mother at an old folks’
home. For two years, the FDW had no proper bed and
regular meals. She slept on a sofa at the public
waiting area, kept her clothes in the luggage she
arrived with and often ate only the old lady’s
leftovers. When asked why she made her FDW stay
at the home, the employer reasoned that she did
not trust the nurses to provide her mother with
24-hour care.
The FDW helpline (6339 5505) receives over 200 calls
per month from FDWs, their friends and relatives
and employment agencies, among other callers. There
are also about three walk-in cases at MOM daily.
Madam Siti’s role is to investigate complaints
and recommend appropriate administrative or legal
action. She will interview the FDW, employer and
others involved to ascertain if the employer has
flouted any of the work permit conditions stipulated
by MOM, which require employers to:
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employ the
FDW to perform only household/domestic duties
at the residential address in the work permit |
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provide for the FDW’s
daily needs, safe working conditions and proper
accommodation |
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pay the FDW her salary
not later than seven days after her pay day |
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pay for the air/ferry
ticket when sending the FDW home |
Employers who breach any condition can be fined
a maximum of $5,000 or jailed for up to six months.
So far the ministry has prosecuted at least three
employers for failing to pay salaries to their FDWs.
There have also been many cases where the Employment
Standards Branch was able to assist the FDWs to
transfer to new employers or return home to their
families. The branch has helped FDWs to recover
salary ranging from $10 to $17,000.
Madam Siti said it is a challenge helping the two
parties when the FDW’s feedback is very different
from the employer’s explanation. So is helping
employers and FDWs who are unreasonable and who
refuse to compromise.
“The FDW can be distressed when complaining
about her problems and we have to counsel them.
When we talk to employers who are in the wrong,
we have to be firm yet courteous,” she said.
Going on to clarify that employers are not always
the one at fault, she said: “There are FDWs
who run away and ask for a transfer because they
cannot take it when their employer corrects their
mistakes, or when their friends or neighbours tell
them to. Employers can also encounter problems if
they employ very calculative and unreasonable FDWs.”
Madam Siti stressed the importance of treating FDWs
with respect and giving them space and privacy.
She advised: “Have realistic expectations
and maintain payment records to safeguard both parties.” |
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