Rest day for maids - 'Make it a must'

The following article was published in the Straits Times on 24 June 2003.

Rest day for maids - 'Make it a must'
By Tan Tarn How
Straits Times, 24 June 2003

Activist group also wants the Government to use the maid levy to help pay for shelters and financial aid for abused and unpaid maids

AN ACTIVIST group wants to change the law to make it compulsory for employers to give their maids weekly rest days.

The Working Committee 2 also wants the Government to use the maid levy to help pay for shelters and financial aid for abused and unpaid maids while their cases go through the courts.

The group, led by Nominated Member of Parliament Braema Mathi and others, also calls for new attitudes on what should be considered bad behaviour towards maids.

Physical abuse is just an extreme example, it said in a report obtained by The Straits Times.

'But the range of practices that should be deemed unreasonable and improper includes any that citizens or residents of Singapore would find unacceptable if anyone attempted to inflict it on them,' said the report.

These include overwork, denial of time off for rest and relaxation, late payment of wages and making maids go against their religious practices.

Many of the 140,000 foreign maids here, especially Indonesians, are denied rest days in their contracts, the report claimed.

It also said maids fear reporting abuse because embassies and charities lack resources to help many of them while waiting for court hearings.

The report, entitled Support Systems For Foreign Domestic Workers, will be discussed with maid agencies, embassies and the Government.

The group, formed earlier this year by individuals and organisations such as the Singapore Council For Women's Organisations, has also prepared another paper detailing other proposed legislative changes.

The proposals include having a standard contract for all maids, covering them under the Employment Act to protect their rights and enhancing punishments against maid abusers.

Maids are now not protected by the Act, which requires employers to give workers rest days as part of the standard employment terms.

The Government has argued it is impractical for maids to come under the Act because the nature of domestic work makes it hard to enforce requirements such as eight-hour work days and paying overtime.

Such legal requirements would hamper the employer-employee relationship severely, it said.

But Mr Bernard Ong, manager of Net Resources maid agency, welcomed the mandatory rest day idea.

'Our maid salaries are less than half those in Hong Kong and Taiwan, so we need other incentives to motivate the maid to work harder,' he said.

Mr Desmond Toh, the owner of another maid agency, Servlink, said: 'If there is a law we will follow. One reason Indonesians usually don't renew their contracts is it is very boring facing the same walls day in day out without going out.'

But he wondered how employers will take to the idea as many of them fear their maids will 'turn bad' or start demanding other rights.

Some of these employers, he said, will only be assured if there is a support system, such as interesting and wholesome activities maids can attend on their days off.

A public forum will be held at the SCWO Centre, 96 Waterloo Street, on July 5 from 2.30 to 5pm. The topics are cultural factors in abuse and exploitation, and alternatives to maids. Find out more at www.aware.org.sg.

Temperature checks a must at large worksites

Temperature checks a must at large worksites
By Alexis Hooi
10 June 2003
Straits Times

New ruling which starts next Monday applies to construction sites, factories, shipyards and foreign worker dormitories

ALL workers in Singapore's construction sites, shipyards and factories will have to undergo daily temperature checks from next Monday.

Factories which employ more than 25 workers, as well as foreign worker dormitories, must take employees' temperatures at least once a day and keep records of their readings.

The compulsory measure in these industries where foreign workers dominate is meant to keep Sars out and ensure that business is not disrupted in an outbreak.

The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) will randomly audit temperature log books.

Companies which fail to comply with the new measures will have the work passes of their foreign workers revoked and risk being blacklisted from hiring foreign workers in the future.

An estimated 4,000 worksites, 80 shipyards and 2,200 factories will be affected.

The measures were announced yesterday by Mr Hawazi Daipi, Parliamentary Secretary (Education and Manpower), during a visit to Sembawang Shipyard.

He said: 'For companies with a large number of workers, we need to ensure there is no possibility of the spread of Sars. We just have to make sure our workers in workplaces are as equally protected as our students and health care workers.'

One of the four largest shipyards here, Sembawang Shipyard has 4,000 employees, 3,000 of whom are from Malaysia, Bangladesh, India and China.

The shipyard has had anti-Sars measures in place since mid-March, such as temperature checks for its employees and travel restrictions to Sars-affected countries.

It was also one of the first to set up a dormitory to quarantine workers returning from Sars-affected countries.

The shipyard's chairman, Mr Heng Chiang Gnee, said: 'What has been announced today is something the yards are already doing. We're also looking at the introduction of thermal scanning at entrances.'

More than 500,000 low-skilled foreign workers are estimated to be in Singapore.

Currently, MOM requires all foreigners from Sars-affected areas coming to Singapore for work to be quarantined for 10 days in dormitories at Woodlands and at Tampines.

Groups of between 100 and 200 new work-permit holders will be allowed in each time and housed in the dormitories at their employers' expense, while professionals and executives with new employment passes must stay home for their first 10 days in Singapore.

The rule which started April 11 also applies to existing foreign workers returning from Sars-affected countries. Those who visit these areas will have their passes cancelled and must apply for new ones when they return.