Maids in Singapore to get a weekly day off
The Singapore government has announced a new requirement for maids
working in the country to get a weekly rest day. The new regulation will
take effect from January 1, 2013 and apply to all foreign maids whose
work permits are renewed or issued after the date.
The move came after a longstanding campaign by activists and
governments of the maids’ countries. There are more than 200,000 maids
in Singapore, mostly from the Philippines, Indonesia, India and Sri
Lanka.
“A weekly rest day is regarded internationally as a basic labour
right,” said minister of State for Manpower Tan Chuan-Jin, who announced
the new rule in parliament on Monday. He added that from 2007 to 2010, a
“significant majority” of maids who had suffered injuries at work or
committed suicide did not get off days.
However, employers will be allowed ‘‘time and flexibility’’ to adjust
to the new requirement, according to a statement from the ministry.
Employers in the South East Asian nation also have the ‘‘alternative
option’’ of offering compensation in lieu of the off-day, if mutually
agreeable with their maids.
The calls for a mandatory rest day for maids working in the island
nation have been going on for a decade. One non-profit organisation that
has been at the forefront of the debate, Transient Workers Count Too,
welcomed the ‘‘long overdue’’ move in a statement. However, the group
urged the government to consider applying the legislation to all maids
currently working in the country, and not only to new hires and those
who renew their work permits from next year. ‘‘Otherwise, there will be
quite a significant population of domestic workers who will have to wait
for a considerable amount of time before they have access to this basic
labour right,’’ said Dr Noorashikin Abdul Rahman, the group’s vice
president. Maids in Hong Kong, another country in Asia that employs a
large number of foreign domestic helpers, already enjoy a rest day each
week.
BBC
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