got this in another chain mail, courtesy of this blog
http://mrwangsaysso.blogspot.com/2008/04/maids-mas-selamat-and-why-wong-kan-seng.html
Pardon the slightly bizarre title of this post. In a roundabout way, it was
inspired by the following article from Today:
2 years on, employers still skirt day-off clause
Should there be a law to get employers to comply?
Friday ? April 25, 2008
NEWLY arrived, a maid asked her employer if she could get a rest day. Her
employer was incredulous.
"If I wanted to give my maid a day off, I would have hired one from another
country," said the employer, who had signed her up on the assumption
that maids of some nationalities were more pliant than others.
Faced with an employment contract that requires them to either give their
maids a rest day, or compensate them accordingly for working, some
Singaporean employers have sought ways to get around the terms or
extract the most from their workers.
And this begs the question of how much has truly changed for the 170,000
foreign domestic workers in our midst ? two years after the industry
association put together a standard contract requiring employers to give
maids at least one day off a month.
A Today straw poll of 50 employers found that only 62 per cent gave their
maids a rest day.
With some industry watchers criticising the rest-day clause as being too
flexible, should legislation be put in place to mandate the issue? ....
There are several simple reasons why many Singaporean employers are
reluctant to give their maids a day off.
You see, if the maid runs away, the government will fine the employer
$5,000. If the maid commits a crime such as shoplifting, the government
will fine the employer $5,000.
If the maid is caught having sex with someone, the government will fine the
employer $5,000. If the maid gets pregnant, the government will also fine
the employer $5,000.
(Oh, and you have to send your maid for a pregnancy test every six months).
If you didn't know any of the above, then either you do not employ a maid,
or you didn't read the small print of the Manpower Ministry's work
permit conditions.
Many employers are afraid that if their maid has a day off and gets into
trouble, the employer will not only have to solve the trouble, but also
have to fork out $5,000 as a free gift to the government.
(Not that the government will then help you solve the trouble. It's just a
fine, plain & simple).
Intuitively, this smacks of gross unfairness. The employer gets punished
not for
something he did, but for something that somebody else (the maid) did.
Furthermore, once the maid leaves the employer's residence, the
employer has no way of monitoring where the maid goes and what she does
there.
To encourage employers to give their maids a day off, the government needs
to change these ridiculous rules.
I agree that employers should be fined and punished, if they fail to
perform their responsibilities as employers - for example, paying the
maid's salary on time; providing adequate food and accommodation; and
ensuring a safe, secure working environment.
But employers should not be held responsible, for things that a maid may
do, of her own free will. When the maid goes out on her rest day, the
employer
simply has no viable way to ensure that she will not do anything that
breaches her work permit conditions.
(Which, by the way, are quite extensive and onerous).
We may draw a curious parallel with Mas Selamat's escape, and PM Lee's
determined, if muddled, defence of Home Affairs Minister Wong Kan Seng
in Parliament.
Mas Selamat ran away. But PM Lee said that Wong Kan Seng was not at fault
and should not be punished in any way. The reason being that Wong Kan Seng
personally did not do anything which allowed Mas Selamat to escape.
Strangely, if your maid runs away, it IS your fault and you SHOULD be
punished. Even if you did not personally do anything to let her run away
(apart from giving her a day off).
Similarly, if your maid becomes pregnant, it IS your fault and you SHOULD
be punished. Even if you did not personally do anything to make her
pregnant.
Oh well. What can I say? Maids are not terrorists. But then you are not
Wong Kan Seng. So the rules remain stacked against you. Wong Kan Seng gets
off lightly, but you won't. Even if his lapse has far greater, and graver,
implications than yours.
Your runaway maid wouldn't blow up Changi Airport, would she?