Singapore Expats

For foreign domestic workers from the Philippines:

- The law states that they must earn a monthly salary of a minimum US$400 (app S$550).
- Without this, their contracts cannot be authenticated by the Philippines Embassy.
- Without an authenticated contract they cannot get the exit pass (to go on home leave).

Question: So how does my (Singaporean) neighbor get away with paying her's only $400 per month?

I was a bit startled by this detail at first, but when I added her (our helper's) food allowance to her base salary it was well over the required amount.

I reckon I also could have included her 'overtime' pay for the public holidays we asked her to work and her Christmas bonus...but that's a bit...

Hm. Maybe I just answered my own question.

Your neighbour gets away with it because no one enforces this requirement. many Filipino helpers are on salaries as low as $320 month. My sister who has just started her third two year contract only earns $360/month with 10hrs off a month.

Singapore has no legal minimum wage. It is up to you to make a moral judgement to pay in line with Philipines Govt. recommendations.

MaidInSing,

Great website/blog you have there, very well written and would recommend people take the time to read it.

Saint

Saint wrote:MaidInSing,

Great website/blog you have there, very well written and would recommend people take the time to read it.

Saint

Very articulate...

Saint wrote:MaidInSing,

Great website/blog you have there, very well written and would recommend people take the time to read it.

Saint

Thanks for your kind words, the site is just launched so who knows how it will go. I am grateful to have an understanding employer that encourages me to make the most of my free time.

BTW like the singature on your post, ha ha

Perhaps it isn't enforced because the Singapore government also collects between $170 - $265 per month from an employer for a levy on top of the employee's salary? Some employers can definitely afford it, but some can't.

Singapore's social services infrastructure doesn't make it easy for its citizens or residents to care for new babies, young children, and elderly when all adult family members need to work outside the home. This is why they are resistant to enforce a lot of things that they should, like a minimum wage and days off etc.

Most of my Singaporean friends hire Indonesian helpers and no matter where the helper comes from the salary doesn't go beyond $400 a month. A few of them only give 2 off days per month. They pay their maid's trip home every two years. I doubt they give a yearly bonus, it hasn't come up in conversation though.

Great blog MaidInSing. I wish your sister could find a new employer who pays a better salary and gives more off days!

Hi BatGirl,

Thanks for taking the time to visit my blog I appreciate it.

Yes i think the levy does make a difference. I know that in Hong Kong there is no levy for maids and most maids get a higher salary than here in Singapore. Plus agents are limited in what fees they can charge to the maid.

Here the agents make their cut, the govt gets the levy and then finally the maid has what's left for doing the work

Employers are paying more than they should to hire a maid and maids are getting less than they should to do the work.

I am currently in Thailand on a project and heard that there is no levy or regulations here and an English-speaking maid (many from the Philippines) gets about THB10k (S$440) a month, others (many from Myanmar or Cambodia) only half of that. The official minimum wage (not enforced) is THB6500 (aboutS$300).

Supposedly the levy is in place to help control the numbers of domestic foreign workers, but why don' t they set a high legal minimum wage and reduce the levy or remove it completely? The agencies here are unfair and provide terrible service to the maids they bring in - basically they only care about the money. It is very true that everyone seems to like to get their cut and give as little money possible to the actual person doing the work.

batgirl_cdn wrote:Supposedly the levy is in place to help control the numbers of domestic foreign workers, but why don' t they set a high legal minimum wage and reduce the levy or remove it completely? The agencies here are unfair and provide terrible service to the maids they bring in - basically they only care about the money. It is very true that everyone seems to like to get their cut and give as little money possible to the actual person doing the work.

It's the hidden and not so hidden levies and taxes that keep the income taxes here low.

So kind of them to pass this "income tax" burden to the foreign domestic worker instead of the employer who is in more of a position to pay, and in many cases is the one holding citizenship or pr in Singapore.

The day when all maid employers treat their maid like human not animal , that will be the day when all the records will be set straight.Until then we can only hope this day will come.
I have never in my entire life employ a maid as my life is my privacy and my privacy must remain private.However I have seen maid being abuse and all sorts which makes me wonder, why go through those trauma if you cannot become a good employer
SG is fortunate with the strict rules the Gahmen set out on maid employment hence the abuse is kept to a minimal. Take a look at Malaysia, the abuse is far worse than one could imagine.

there are strict laws against maid abuse. sadly though many maids don't have access to info about their rights or even their own telephone which means abuse is reported less than it should be. many employers don't let maids out of house unaccompanied, no free time not allowed to talk to other maids etc.. there is also the emotional abuse of being constantly scolded and put down all day long while working 17hrs a day everyday straight for 2 years. this is not mentally healthy and is abuse in my eyes.