'Treat maids with dignity in ads'
MOM sends letter to agencies after report of maids marketed like goods
By Amelia Tan, The Straits Times, 17 Jul 2014
MOM sends letter to agencies after report of maids marketed like goods
By Amelia Tan, The Straits Times, 17 Jul 2014
THE Ministry of Manpower (MOM) has asked maid agencies to ensure that their advertisements accord maids "basic respect and human dignity" in the wake of a foreign news report about how these workers are marketed like goods here.
In a letter sent out yesterday, MOM's deputy commissioner for employment agencies, Ms Penny Elaine Yapp, said the ministry is concerned by "incidences of insensitive advertising and inappropriate display" of maids.
She noted that advertisements at some agencies emphasise cheap fees, promotional rates and discounts, giving the impression that foreign domestic workers are "being marketed as merchandise". Ms Yapp said advertisements should not include "fees or liken foreign domestic workers to merchandise that can be purchased and replaced when found unsatisfactory".
The letter comes on the back of a news report by Arab news agency Al Jazeera earlier this month, which said maids here were being marketed as "commodities".
The story highlighted the apparent lack of respect for maids when they are "displayed" in agencies surrounded by "garish advertisements offering super promo rates".
Maids were also described as being on "display at work in mock living rooms" as they carry out tasks such as ironing clothes and pushing one another on wheelchairs.
Maid agents later interviewed by The Straits Times explained that these "mock living rooms" were actually training areas.
MOM did not mention these training rooms in the letter. But it said getting maids to sit outside the agency premises is unacceptable.
Ms Yapp said MOM will take action against agencies which continue in their disrespectful marketing strategies.
Maid agencies interviewed said they hope MOM's reminder will stop errant practices which have drawn flak from governments of foreign countries where maids hail from.
Following the Al Jazeera report, the Philippine government launched a probe into the marketing strategies of agencies here.It has barred two Singapore maid agencies, Homekeeper and Budget Maid, from recruiting Filipinos. The ban has yet to be lifted.
Homekeeper agency said the report was unfair and has asked Al Jazeera to publish a clarification. However, it has not heard back from the news agency.
Some maid agents suggested that MOM go a step further by including advertising standards in regulations for maid agencies.
Mr Stephen Chia, who owns 21st Century Employment Agency, said: "Only then will agents abide by the rules."
Other agents are less optimistic that industry practices will improve.
They said the MOM letter does not address the problem of maid agencies competing to charge low prices, which is the reason for ads promoting low fees.
Best Home Employment Agency boss Tay Khoon Beng said: "There is a price war going on now, where agents are competing to slash fees. We should move towards competing on quality and service but I don't see this happening."
Separately, MOM said in a press release yesterday that a maid employer has been fined $12,000 for not paying his maid. Razalee Rasdi, 51, had owed the domestic worker salary amounting to $7,450.40.
Call to cap maid recruitment fee paid by employers
By Amelia Tan, The Straits Times, 17 Jul 2014
By Amelia Tan, The Straits Times, 17 Jul 2014
THE biggest maid agent association here has submitted a proposal to the Government to cap the fees that employers pay on behalf of their maids, to stop agents from jacking up fees.
The Association of Employment Agencies (Singapore) (AEAS) is calling for this fee - which can be as high as $4,000 - to be capped at around $1,000 instead.
As maids usually cannot afford the fee, employers "lend" them the money, getting the money back through deductions from the maids' salaries. The women can thus go without pay for up to nine months or take home as little as $10 to $20 each month.
The high fees have caused maids to run away. Bosses suffer too, said Ms K. Jayaprema, president of the AEAS, who sent the proposal to the Manpower Ministry (MOM) on Monday.
Some employers do not get any refund for the money they pay on behalf of the maids when the women quit. "There are contracts which state that employers will not get any money back if their maid is transferred to a new boss within two or three months," she said.
Under current legislation, maid agents here can charge workers recruitment fees of only up to two months of their salaries - maids earn about $500 a month.
But some Singapore agents collude with overseas recruiters to collect more than what is allowed here, said Ms Jayaprema. The proposal aims to improve the current law by spelling out that employers should not pay more than a certain sum to agents on behalf of maids.
A lack of records also makes the current rule hard to enforce.
"Some Singapore agents are earning four or more months of the maids' salaries," said Ms Jayaprema. "But we can't prove it because the money goes into overseas bank accounts or there is no paper trail," she said.
But this can be addressed if maids take loans from foreign banks and pay monthly. "MOM will be able to see how much the maids are paying and to whom," she added.
The AEAS suggests that the MOM work with foreign countries to set up loan schemes with overseas financial institutions.
When contacted, the MOM said it is reviewing the recommendations by the AEAS and that it takes a strong stance against maids being overcharged in fees. In the past two years, 10 agents were each fined $2,500 or $3,000 for charging excessive fees.
Maid agents interviewed by The Straits Times welcomed the proposal but said that, if it is adopted, employers will likely have to pay a higher service fee to maid agents. This may rise from around $400 to $1,000 now to about $2,000.
"Right now, maid agents are passing on most of the cost to the maids and charging employers low fees. They will have to balance the cost out more," said Ms Shirley Ng, owner of Orange Employment Agency.