Maid asks how many days of leave she’s entitled to as her embassy’s contract states 15 days a year, but she only gets 14 days after two years of work

SINGAPORE — A foreign domestic worker took to social media asking about the discrepancy in the number of days of leave she had.

In a post to Facebook group FDW in Singapore (working conditions forum), the maid wrote that the standard contract from her embassy stated that helpers were entitled to no less than 15 days of leave a year which will only be given after she finishes her contract, which means a months’ leave after a two-year contract.

However, she added that as per the standard contract, it was stated that helpers were only entitled to 14 days of leave after a 2-year contract.

She asked other netizens why there was a difference in the amount of leave given in the two contracts.

Here’s what they said:

Last year, a woman asked if employers deduct or hold back their helper’s salary when the helper goes on vacation, explaining that this is the case with one of her friends.

On the FDW in Singapore (working conditions forum) Facebook page, the woman posed a question to employers who are part of the group:

“Do you deduct/ hold your helpers salary when they are taking their home leave? And may i know for what reason? Are you worr(ied) if maybe they  didn’t come back to SG after their home leave done?”

The woman, who is Indonesian, said she felt sad when she heard from her friend, also an Indonesian national, that her employer would be holding her salary for two months while she goes on home leave next week.

This is the first time the helper will go home since the Covid-19 pandemic started, and she has been with her employer for three and a half years.

Her friend added that according to the employer, this is what the agency suggested to prevent the helper from not coming back, and if this does happen, the employer can use the money to get another helper. 

“She of course felt sad, disappointed and angry because her employer let her know today. She is thinking that her employer didn’t trust her enough but because air ticket already paid so she can’t do anything,” the woman wrote, adding that “Two months salary is big amount for us and we can use to pay everything back home.”

Fortunately, group members who answered her question set the record straight, providing a link from the website of the Ministry of Manpower concerning paying the salary of a foreign domestic worker.

Maid says she feels sad & disappointed her employer will hold 2 months’ salary when she goes on home leave next week, asks ‘may i know for what reason?’