SINGAPORE: An employer whose helper wanted to travel overseas on her days off took to social media to ask whether she was legally allowed to and if he was liable to pay her medical fees.
In a post to a Facebook support group for helpers and employers alike, the man wrote: “As employer, can anyone advise whether it us the legal rights of my helper to travel to Johore Bahru or Batam on her off day”.
He also asked if the employer would be liable to pay for province medical fees and other expenses should the helper meet with unforeseen accidents while she is overseas.
Most maids who responded felt that helpers should be allowed to go overseas. Other employers who commented had mixed reactions, with most saying that it depended on whether their helper was trustworthy.
Here’s what they wrote:
Earlier this year, a foreign domestic helper who refused to stay at home alone while her employers went overseas got to go on her own holiday as well.
In an anonymous post to a Facebook page, the maid’s employer wrote that she and her family had planned to go overseas on a short family trip. However, she added that her helper did not want to stay in their house alone, so “we will treat her to a holiday at a place of her interest somewhere else”.
She also wrote that she would be giving her maid paid leave and covering the cost of her flight tickets as well. “Any idea if we should also cover her accommodation? This is on top of her fully paid home leave which we have already approved. What is your arrangement for helper when employer goes overseas for holiday?” the woman asked netizens in her post.
Other helpers who commented on the post said that they would either stay home and do some light cleaning or go on leave to their hometowns. Some also said that they would be sent to their agencies temporarily.
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