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Shocking idea: a mandatory day off for maids

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Summary of story from The Guardian, July 8, 2011

A Singaporean Minister’s suggestion of a mandatory rest day for all domestic workers has reignited a long-running debate there over workers’ rights.

The legal right to a day off has been unthinkable for maids, nearly one-third of whom come from the Philippines.

They work an average of 14 hours a day, with only 12 per cent given one day off per week, according to a new report.

While physical abuse of domestic workers has decreased in recent years, psychological abuse is very common, says Bridget Tan of the Humanitarian Organisation for Migration Economics, which counsels some 1,000 runaway domestic workers every year.

“Newcomers usually have their mobiles taken away, aren’t allowed to communicate with family or neighbours and get no day off. The working conditions here are making people go crazy.”

But not everyone can afford domestic help. On top of the salary, employers are required to pay a £2,500 security bond on their maid, as well as a monthly fee of around £135 throughout the standard two-year contract.

Such rules can encourage employers to be less concerned about the welfare of their workers than “getting value for money”, says Vincent Wijeysingha of the charity Transient Workers Count Too.

“Unlike more liberal countries where your rights are protected by law, here it all comes down to the personal goodwill of the employer, he said.

“Many think, ‘I already pay so much for her, I don’t want to let her out of the house where she might find a boyfriend, get pregnant and make me lose my security bond’.”

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