Maid says her employers made her sign an agreement such that they kept her work permit and passport and only gave her photocopies

SINGAPORE — A foreign domestic worker took to social media asking if it was legal that her employers made her sign an agreement handing over her passport and work permit to them.

In an anonymous post to Facebook page FDW in Singapore (working conditions forum), the maid wrote: “Hello permission to post admin as i want to seek advice and hope you can help me”.

She then asked netizens in the group: “Is it legal that your employer let you sign an agreement that you allow them to look after your passport and work permit?and they just give you a copy on it?”

Here’s what netizens who commented on her post said:

According to the Manpower Ministry, “Employers should not keep the passports of their migrant workers or migrant domestic workers (MDWs). They should also not force their workers to give them their passports. The passport belongs to the bearer and the issuing authority of the bearer’s country/region of origin.

According to the Passports Act, it is an offence to keep or withhold any passport which does not belong to you. Good employers provide their workers with means to keep their passports and other belongings securely, such as a locker. The worker must have unrestricted access to the passport and belongings. Workers whose employers insist on withholding their passport can contact MOM for assistance”.

Earlier in the month, a new maid took to social media asking if she should be the one to hold her own work permit and passport. In a post to Facebook page FDW in Singapore (working conditions forum), a friend of the maid shared the query on the maid’s behalf. She wrote that the maid was new and had only been in Singapore for five weeks.

“Her employer is keeping her permit and passport. Apparently this is normal. She took her day off last week. Her friends asked her of (sic) she has her permit, and she [s]aid no”, the friend wrote. The maid also said that her employer ‘pushed’ for the documents. In her post, she added that her agent was fierce, and she wanted to know if asking her agent for help in this matter would backfire upon her.

“Will her employer think that maybe she wants to run away? Is it so important that she must have her dociments now, instead of waiting maybe three months when some trust has built between the two of them?” the friend wrote.

Netizens who commented gave varying opinions, some said that she should hold her own passport and work permit, while others said that she should leave her passport with her employer until her loan was repaid.

Maid asks if she should be the one to keep her own passport & work permit, says her employer insisted on keeping the documents