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Tag: Foreign domestic worker

  • Beware! Do Not Hire This Filipino Maid Who Stole From Employer

    Beware! Do Not Hire This Filipino Maid Who Stole From Employer

    <Complaint by Michelle Yu-Tan>

    Dear all, this was my previous helper here in Singapore. Her name is Laurence Angela Lardizabal Soria and might go for the last name Perez. I would just like to make a public note that we had already sent her back home to the Philippines after 3 offenses of lying and stealing from us.

    She is from Batangas San Jose. After giving her a chance the first and second time round, the last offence she commited was stealing money from my wallet. Although she already confessed for taking the money when confronted before sending her back, we were surprised that no apologies was even said.

    Please be aware of who she really is and if you happen to know someone who would think of hiring her, think again. If you have valuables, it will disappear.

    Please do me a favour to share this and spread it out so it may reach everywhere in the world. Who knows, her next destination might be in your country.

     

    Source: www.allsingaporestuff.com

  • Maids Should Be Protected Under The Employment Act

    Maids Should Be Protected Under The Employment Act

    We thank Mr Leonard Poh for his feedback in “To promote domestic workers’ welfare, share anecdotes, best practices” (March 13).

    Our study was conducted based on a sample of respondents stratified to reflect the major populations of migrant domestic workers here as indicated by published numbers. Statistical differences were tested using parametric and non-parametric techniques.

    Statistical relationships were also examined with correlation and regression analyses. From our calculations, we concluded that 670 respondents were sufficient to achieve statistical significance in our results.

    HOME acknowledges that in the 10 years we have been campaigning for migrant domestic workers, there have been improvements in their welfare and rights. Still, we have a long way to go in ensuring equal rights and adequate protections for them.

    For example, our respondents worked an average of 13 hours a day, with 10 per cent found to sleep in the kitchen, living room or bomb shelter. More than half did not even have a copy of their contracts on them.

    Positive mental health can happen only when employers respect their employees’ privacy and give them regular time off and rest days. However, domestic workers should not have to depend on the goodwill of employers to enjoy basic rights.

    The Manpower Ministry should include them in the Employment Act so benefits such as sick leave, public holidays and limits on working hours are not left to employers to decide.

    If employees in other occupations will not accept the denial of such rights, why should domestic workers be discriminated against in this way?

     

    Jolovan Wham, Executive Director, Humanitarian Organisation for Migration Economics

     

    Source: www.todayonline.com

  • Employer Forces Maid To Clean Canal Behind Home And Polish Leaves Of Trees In Nearby Park

    Employer Forces Maid To Clean Canal Behind Home And Polish Leaves Of Trees In Nearby Park

    Residents at a private estate Colchester Grove were shocked to find a foreign domestic worker cleaning up rubbish, debris and leaves at a nearby canal just behind her owner’s property.

    The same worker has also been seen carrying a pail of water and a cloth to a nearby park in the estate in an attempt to “polish” the leaves of the trees and bushes in the park.

    A resident of the estate, who did not want to be named, said that when asked about what she was doing, the worker said that she was being asked to do these chores because she had finished what she needed to do in her employer’s home. As her employer felt that she did not have enough to do, she was sent out to do extra cleaning.

    Residents in the estate have expressed concern about the foreign domestic worker’s safety. It was observed that every time there is rain, the canal’s water level rises swiftly and brings with it strong currents, which could easily sweep a person away.

    One resident said that the owner should not even be assigning the maid to work outside of the home as anything outside of the owner’s home was not within the maid’s job scope.

    When approached, the worker refused to comment.

    The employer however did not deny making his worker clean the canal behind his home as he had wanted to prevent any potential dengue breeding. He explained that the canal in the back of his home was often clogged with fallen branches and leaves, which could become potential mosquito breeding spots.

    The employer added that he approached his estate’s conservancy services vendor in the past, but they would only perform cleaning duties in the canal once every month.

    He did not deny asking the maid to polish the leaves of a nearby park as he did not see anything wrong with doing so.

    Source: www.allsingaporestuff.com

  • Indonesia Mulls Stopping Sending Domestic Workers Overseas from 2019

    Indonesia Mulls Stopping Sending Domestic Workers Overseas from 2019

    In about five years’ time, Singapore households may no longer be able to hire foreign domestic workers from Indonesia.

    The Indonesian government is considering ending the practice of sending female workers overseas as it said many of them suffer mental and physical abuse while working overseas. Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla was reported by the Jakarta Globe to have said this last Friday (Nov 21).

    As Indonesians make up about 70 per cent of the 200,000 foreign domestic workers in Singapore, maid agencies in the Republic have expressed concern.

    Ms Winnie Wang, overseas recruitment senior adviser for Advance Link International, said: “I think, at the beginning, employers of foreign maids will definitely be affected. The advantages of getting an Indonesian maid are firstly, there is no language barrier. Most of the maids from Indonesia are trained to speak English.

    “Moreover, they speak Bahasa Indonesia, which is welcomed by most Singapore employers because they can speak some Malay also, so there is no communication breakdown.”

    Meanwhile, maid agencies said that Singapore is currently not the ideal overseas destination for many Indonesian women as higher salaries are offered in other places like Hong Kong and Taiwan.

    To meet the demand for foreign domestic workers in Singapore, the Manpower Ministry launched a pilot project last August that aims to bring in 400 workers from Cambodia. Since then, only 350 workers have been brought in.

    Mr Ronnie Toh, an employment consultant with A C Toh Enterprises, said: “We do need a lot of these Cambodian maids but the shortage of the maids, I think, is due to the supplier over in Phnom Penh, in Cambodia itself. I think they should open the market for more suppliers.”

     

    Source: www.todayonline.com