Singapore maids set to get a day off each week
Source: Agencies |
March 7, 2012, Wednesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
MAIDS in Singapore will soon get something that many people around the world take for granted: a day off.
Starting next year, maids must receive one day off a week or additional compensation to work that day, Manpower Minister Tan Chuan-Jin told Parliament late on Monday.
Worker and human-rights groups praised the change yesterday, saying it will bring Singapore closer to international labor norms.
"We are happy to note that Singapore is taking a significant step forward toward matching domestic laws and policies with international labor standards," Trina Liang Lin, president of the Singapore Committee for UN Women, said. "It is simply the right thing to do."
About one in five Singapore households has a full-time, live-in maid.
Rights groups have urged the government to bolster safeguards for the city-state's 206,000 domestic workers, who mostly come from Indonesia, the Philippines, Sri Lanka and India.
Employers are not required to give domestic workers any days off, while local and non-maid foreign workers are allowed at least one day off a week.
Tan said the new rules would be applied to all maid contracts starting after January 1, next year.
Rights groups expressed concerns that employers will be able to pay maids one day's wages to work on a day off, if maids agree. Employers can cancel a maid's contract at any time without cause, and some employers may threaten maids to accept extra pay instead of taking a day off, said the Singapore-based Humanitarian Organization for Migration Economics.
Tan told Parliament that some families were against giving maids days off because they could socialize and become pregnant during their free time.
"Some employers felt that their maids don't need a rest day because they have enough rest on a daily basis," Tan said. "One oft-repeated concern is the fear that maids will misbehave or become less compliant."
One employer told the Straits Times newspaper that she would seek to pay her maid the extra day's wages rather than allow her to take a day off.
"This is bad news for women who are working," 49-year-old mother of four Poon Boon Eng, told the paper. "I need to rest on Sunday too."
The change to the law must be approved by Parliament. It is expected to pass because the government has a large majority.
Starting next year, maids must receive one day off a week or additional compensation to work that day, Manpower Minister Tan Chuan-Jin told Parliament late on Monday.
Worker and human-rights groups praised the change yesterday, saying it will bring Singapore closer to international labor norms.
"We are happy to note that Singapore is taking a significant step forward toward matching domestic laws and policies with international labor standards," Trina Liang Lin, president of the Singapore Committee for UN Women, said. "It is simply the right thing to do."
About one in five Singapore households has a full-time, live-in maid.
Rights groups have urged the government to bolster safeguards for the city-state's 206,000 domestic workers, who mostly come from Indonesia, the Philippines, Sri Lanka and India.
Employers are not required to give domestic workers any days off, while local and non-maid foreign workers are allowed at least one day off a week.
Tan said the new rules would be applied to all maid contracts starting after January 1, next year.
Rights groups expressed concerns that employers will be able to pay maids one day's wages to work on a day off, if maids agree. Employers can cancel a maid's contract at any time without cause, and some employers may threaten maids to accept extra pay instead of taking a day off, said the Singapore-based Humanitarian Organization for Migration Economics.
Tan told Parliament that some families were against giving maids days off because they could socialize and become pregnant during their free time.
"Some employers felt that their maids don't need a rest day because they have enough rest on a daily basis," Tan said. "One oft-repeated concern is the fear that maids will misbehave or become less compliant."
One employer told the Straits Times newspaper that she would seek to pay her maid the extra day's wages rather than allow her to take a day off.
"This is bad news for women who are working," 49-year-old mother of four Poon Boon Eng, told the paper. "I need to rest on Sunday too."
The change to the law must be approved by Parliament. It is expected to pass because the government has a large majority.
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