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For more than five years, Siti (not her real name) began her 16-hour workday at 5.30 a.m. cleaning her employer’s five-room apartment on the 10th floor, followed by the five-room apartment of her mother. employer, one floor below.
The then rookie maid endured the grooming, cleaning and cooking for both households in Ang Mo Kio between 2010 and 2015.
Despite the exhaustion of chores that had her working every day after 9:30 p.m. M., With just a half-hour break for lunch, the now 35-year-old East Javanese native never reported the illicit deployment to authorities.
“I knew it was wrong, but I was young and new. I was afraid of getting in trouble with (the employer) because I thought they would blacklist me. I felt like I couldn’t speak so I just followed her,” she said.
“My purpose here is to work and earn money, not to create problems.”
The workload eventually became unbearable and she asked to go home. Two months later, he contacted another agency and returned to Singapore, and to a new employer.
The issue of the illegal deployment of maids came to the fore after Ms. Parti Liyani, a former maid employed by Mr. Liew Mun Leong and his family, was acquitted of robbing them. Mr. Liew resigned last week as chairman of Changi Airport Group and Surbana Jurong, as well as from positions in two other organizations.
Ms Parti had been asked to clean the home and office of Mr Liew’s son, Karl Liew, and the judge found there was reason to believe the Liews had preemptively terminated their employment and filed a police report alleging theft after she threatened to report the illegal Deployment to the Ministry of Manpower (MOM).
While official figures show that the illegal deployment of foreign domestic workers (FDW) here is less of a problem, interviews with a dozen servants here show a different picture.
An employer had asked seven of the 12 maids The Sunday Times spoke to to perform housework in another home. None of them had reported the problem to MOM.
Like Siti, they mentioned not having a full understanding of the rules, fear of repercussions, and a feeling of worthlessness as reasons for not blowing the whistle.
One maid, who wanted to be known as Diyah, said that five of her previous employers asked her to work in the homes of other family members or at their workplaces.
He said he was unaware of the rules during his terms with his first two employers.
Her third employer claimed to have approval from MOM, even though she never consulted her about the arrangement, and Diyah said she didn’t know how to verify this.
Similarly, Lara, a native of Surabaya, was asked not only to take care of two homes in the same condominium, but also to clean an office on a monthly basis for an eight-month period. She told her agency about the multiple deployments at the end of her term, but was not sure if the matter was ever reported to MOM.
“He was still on deduction at the time,” he said, referring to the initial period in which part of his salary would go to the agency. “I didn’t want to get in too much trouble because my boss’s wife had a bad temper, so I just wanted to finish the deduction and swallow it. I knew it wasn’t right.”
According to the law, employers must ensure that domestic workers perform only household and household tasks, and that they can work for their employer only at the address indicated on their work permit.
MOM said last week that between 2017 and 2019, it received an average of 550 cases a year of female servants forced to work illegally by their employers or household members. That’s 0.2 percent of the more than 236,000 employers of foreign domestic workers here, he added.
FEAR OF REPERCUSSIONS
He knew it was wrong, but he was young and new. I was afraid of getting in trouble … because I thought I would be blacklisted. I felt like I couldn’t speak.
SITI, an Indonesian maid who was illegally sent by her employer for five years.
Three-quarters of the cases were brought to the attention of the ministry by third parties, while the rest were complaints filed by the domestic workers themselves, MOM said in response to media inquiries.
The ministry said that following the investigation, most of the cases were foreign domestic workers who had been sent with their charges, whether children or the elderly, to the homes of close relatives to provide care there. This is allowed as long as the helpers agree to the arrangements, are not obliged to perform household chores for two families, and take care of their well-being, MOM said.
Those found guilty of illegally deploying an FDW can be fined up to $ 10,000 in the first instance and prohibited from employing FDW.
MOM said all allegations are taken seriously and analyzed, but did not elaborate on what its threshold for prosecution is. In serious cases, such as those where foreign domestic workers are regularly deployed to perform non-domestic work or to work in business premises for an extended period, employers can be fined and also barred from hiring foreign domestic workers, he added.
Ms K. Jayaprema, President of the Association of Employment Agencies (Singapore) argued that the responsibility for curbing the exploitation of foreign domestic workers should be shared among stakeholders.
“We have to instill in everyone this responsibility to comply with the rules on illegal employment and deployment … We need to send a strong signal to every foreign worker and employer in Singapore for everyone to align themselves.”
But non-governmental organizations (NGOs) noted that the asymmetry of power between the employer and the domestic worker, as well as the fear of retaliation, means that many cases are likely to go unreported, especially if employers push the boundaries of what allowed without entering heinous territory.
“Workers often agree to participate in these types of activities (even if they know they are illegal) because they fear being scolded or fired if they refuse, as there is an unequal balance of power between worker and employer,” said a spokesperson. . for the Humanitarian Organization for the Migrant Economy (Home).
“Facing the possibility of being sanctioned will also prevent them from presenting complaints to the MOM.”
The Foreign Domestic Workers Association for Social Support and Training (Quick), referring to MOM’s advice for employers to establish a work outreach with the helper when they have to visit other family members, said: “On the ground , the execution of these agreements and agreements may differ from family to family. While Fast has seen instances of misunderstandings, it does not reflect the general sentiments of the FDW-employer relationship in Singapore. “
While Ms Parti stood firm against her accusers after her threat to submit a report to MOM allegedly led to criminal charges against her, many foreign domestic workers would have chosen to plead guilty and move on, given financial constraints and otherwise, said attorney Anil Balchandani, who worked on Ms. Parti’s case pro bono.
“They feel that it is convenient or it gives them the impression that it is only convenient to apologize and plead guilty, and they are going to send them home, which is what they really want after a while of being accused and questioned,” he said in an interview with Home. “And that in itself is an injustice.”
The Center for Domestic Employees said it is in the self-interest of employers to ensure that their domestic workers do not face stress or burnout from overwork, either from working at two locations or from additional tasks.
“If the FDW feels tired due to overwork, it increases the risk of injury,” said the center, which was created by the National Congress of Trade Unions. The employer would then be responsible for the unsubsidized medical treatment.
Of course, not all domestic workers who were illegally deployed had negative experiences.
A 41-year-old aide told ST that she was happy to clean her employer’s mother’s house twice a week for an additional $ 50, as the children in her care have grown and her original workload has decreased.
“It’s not too tiring and my employer is very understanding and doesn’t rush me back home. Usually on those days he doesn’t force me to cook dinner,” said the Indonesian woman from Semarang, Central Java.
But those cases where both parties are happy are “very rare,” said Ms Ummai Ummairoh, president of the Indonesian Family Network advocacy group. “Even if the helper tells the employer that they agree, many say yes and accept the money because they are scared,” he said.
In the future, Ms. Ummai hopes to see better communication between foreign domestic workers and employers, and stricter enforcement of the rules.
“Things are better than in the past because of all the complaints and (the work of) the NGOs, but much more support is still needed because we still see many cases, and the helpers ask for support because they are exhausted,” she said.
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