A foreign domestic helper who was charged a transfer fee worth two months of her salary by her agency asked other helpers about it. She also had questions as to why her employers were allowed to keep her passport.
In a Facebook post to group FDW in Singapore (working conditions forum), the helper, who wished to remain anonymous, asked if the transfer fee of $1260 was a large sum of her “hard earned” money. She asked why they had to be charged that sum for being transferred.
The helper also shared a document allowing her employer to hold on to her passport for safekeeping. She asked if the template was approved by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM).
Those who responded to the helper wrote that yes, agencies were approved to get two months of the helper’s salary as transfer fees. However, they added that she was not required to sign the document allowing her employers to hold her passport.
Here’s what they said:
Last month, another domestic helper, whose workload turned out to be more than what was agreed upon, took to social media to ask others what to do.
The helper, who seemed to use a throwaway account to post her query, shared it on Wednesday (Jul 6). She shared that her boss was not local and that in her contract it was stated that she would only have to care for two adults and a child.
When initially speaking to her, the employers told the helper that their parents would only visit them every six months or so, and this would only be for short periods of time.
However, the helper added that at first, her employer’s parents stayed for three months, but then this turned into a stay for six months.
She wrote that she was exhausted and said: “I really don’t like old folks..”.
In addition, she asked others in the FDW in Singapore (working conditions forum) group if they too had experienced anything similar, or if their employers paid them extra for the work. /TISG