SINGAPORE: An employer took to social media asking if her helper, who did not want to go on home leave, needed to be compensated.
In an anonymous post to a support group on social media for domestic helpers and employers alike, one woman had questions about her Indonesian helper. She wrote: “She doesn’t want to go back for her home leave and would like to extend her contract for another 2 years”. The employer asked if there were any requirements needed to extend her helper’s contract and wanted to know if she needed to pay her helper in lieu of her home leave.
One netizen who commented on the post said: “I’d like to clear up some misinformation in this group. Not all contracts offer the same type of compensation in-lieu of home leave. Best not to muddy the waters. I’ve seen many different contracts, and they aren’t all the same”.
Another helper wrote: “For compensation in-lieu of home leave: Please refer to Clause 13 to 15 of the contract. It will state what to do if helper does not wish to utilise her home leave. Depending on the contract, it is either compensation in the form of cost of round trip air ticket OR lump sum stated in the contract. Some contracts may explicitly include compensation for 15 days salary as well, but not all, so please check your contractual terms. For renewal process, please refer to: https://www.mom.gov.sg/…/work…/renew-a-work-permit
” An administrator in the group also added: “Dear OP, MOM will send renewal notice 8 weeks before WP expires. Link and guide on how to renew wp online will be written in there. As for the homeleave compensation, please check your employment contract if there’s any. The lumpsum compensation is usually written in there. If there’s no prior agreement in writing, it’s up to whether u want to pay or not. But if your helper did well in the past 2 years, then u can consider giving compensation. The usual compensation is economy return ticket equivalent to cash. You can also consider to give extra cash bonus as a form of appreciation for her good work performance in the past years. But if it’s just so so, then just follow what’s written in your contract”.
Earlier this year, one domestic helper got cheeky recently, posting a photo of a note addressed to employers to clean up after themselves on her day off. The note read, “Mam/Sir. Pls. Wash the Plates, Spoon Pork (sic) & etc. It’s my day off today!! Clean the Floor Also!! Thank you. From: Kunyang.” The note was stuck below the microwave oven and above the sink, which, in fairness, was empty of dirty dishes. /TISG