SINGAPORE — A foreign domestic worker took to social media asking others for advice because her employer would pay her only for 30 days of work.
In her anonymous post to Facebook group FDW in Singapore (working conditions forum), the maid wrote that when she worked under an agency, her basic salary was pegged to 26 days of work. If a month had 31 days, she would be paid her basic salary and be compensated for the five additional days she worked.
However, now that her employer directly hired her without an agency, the maid wrote that her basic salary was pegged to 30 days of work. She had no days off despite working all the weekends.
In the comments section, the maid added that her employers did not allow her to take any days off.
According to the Manpower Ministry, “Your MDW is entitled to one rest day per week. You and your MDW must mutually agree on which day of the week she should take the rest day.
From 1 January 2023, all employers must ensure their MDWs have at least one rest day each month that cannot be compensated away.
If your MDW agrees to work on the remaining rest days in the month, you must compensate her with one of the following:
- At least 1 day’s salary.
Note: This is an additional payment and is not counted into the MDW’s basic salary. - A replacement rest day taken within the same month.
If your MDW is currently receiving compensation in-lieu of all her rest days (i.e. she has no rest days in a month), you must let her take at least 1 rest day a month from 1 January 2023 and discuss with her how her rest day will be taken”.
Here’s what netizens who commented on the post said:
Last week, a foreign domestic worker took to social media asking netizens if she needed to inform her employer about her activities on her day off.
In an anonymous post to Facebook group FDW in Singapore (working conditions forum), the maid wrote: “To all fellow FDW or employer rather,are we obliged to tell to our employer where we go on our day off,what we do and whose with us?”
She added that the day after her off day, her employer’s husband would always question her about it. She said he would “keep asking where I go and what we do”. The maid also added that her employer would ask her for details, such as who was with her.
She asked other helpers if their employers also asked them for this information.
“are your employer asking this to you?or employer do we need to tell you what activities we do on our day off? I’m just curious”, the maid wrote.
Most helpers and employers who responded wrote that the maid’s employer was probably concerned, which was why he kept asking her. They added that she was not obliged to answer but suggested that she, too, could also be truthful in her answers.