SINGAPORE: A foreign domestic worker took to social media to ask if she also needs to clean the room and hang the clothes of her employer’s tenants as she was unsure of her scope of work.
In her post to a Facebook group for domestic helpers, the maid wrote that her employer had tenants staying in the same house as well and that she was asked to clean their room and hang their clothes. The helper wrote: “Hello, If your employer have boarders at home is this also your responsibility to clean room and hang their clothes? Employer said Yes because you are working in same house and same address”.
According to the Manpower Ministry,
“A helper:
- Requires a valid Work Permit.
- Can only work for her employer at the residential address declared to MOM.
- Can only perform domestic chores.
- Cannot take on work with other employers.
Penalties
- For illegally deploying helpers, employers may be liable to pay a financial penalty of up to $10,000. Errant employers may also be banned from employing helpers.
- For employing a helper without a valid Work Permit, employers may be fined between $5,000 and $30,000, imprisoned for up to 1 year, or both. For subsequent convictions, offenders face mandatory imprisonment.”
Should a helper be required to take care of her employer’s child or parent at a relative’s house, MOM has to be notified beforehand.
Netizens who commented on the post advised the maid that unless it was discussed beforehand and she agreed to it, it was not her job to perform chores for her employers’ tenants.
Here’s what they said:
Last month, another foreign domestic worker took to social media asking what she should do because her employer had taken her to clean another house. She added that she knew it was illegal but was afraid her employer would send her back to her own country if she refused.
In an anonymous post to Facebook page FDW in Singapore (working conditions forum), the maid wrote that this was her first time in Singapore. She added that she was 25 years old and single. The maid also said that she did not have any experience working as a maid.
She added that when she came to Singapore and was interviewed, she tried to select a home with working conditions that matched her capabilities as a first timer. The maid then wrote: “when i come here all the condition that my employer give to me at interview not same with reality, but its okay i still can adapt all with the work here”.
However, the maid then added: “what make me concern that my employer before give me “code” saying that she know some Fdw in here work as part timer in another house which is i know that illegal in here and i just listen to her bcs i take care elderly and i dont want to argue with her. But TODAY she told me to clean different house that adress not at my WP.. im flustered i dont know is it okay to say No bcs i affraid that i’ll be sent back to my country if i dont do it”.
The maid wrote that her employer hinted to her that she knew of other maids who worked part-time in other homes. Adding that she knew this was illegal, the maid said she kept quiet nonetheless because she did not want to argue with her employer. The maid’s main job was to take care of the elderly in her employer’s house. However, when her employer took her to another house to clean she wrote that she got flustered because she did not know if it was okay to refuse to do so. She was worried that if she declined to clean another home, her employer would send her back to her home country.