Work Permit

You must not retain your FDW’s Work Permit She should carry her original Work Permit with her at all times for inspection on demand by any public officer.

Passport

You must not retain your FDW’s passport without her consent. If prior consent was given for you to safekeep the passport, you must return the passport to your FDW upon her request.

Maintenance and Well-being

You must bear the costs of your FDW’s upkeep and maintenance such as food, lodging and medical expenses. Such costs should not be deducted from her salary.

Medical Care

You must provide your FDW with access to medical treatment and bear the full cost of her medical care including hospitalisation. From 1 January 2010, you must purchase medical insurance coverage of at least $15,000 per year for your FDW’s inpatient care and day surgery during her stay in Singapore. You must also take up a Personal Accident Insurance policy for your FDW, with a minimum sum assured of $40,000.

Weekly Rest Day

All FDWs whose Work Permits are issued on or after 1 January 2013 will be entitled to a weekly rest day. However, the employers can compensate the FDW by paying at least one day’s salary if she agrees to work on her rest day. The employer must obtain the FDW’s agreement and document the rest day arrangements in writing, so as to avoid misunderstandings and disputes. It is in the interest of both parties to clearly document the mutually agreed rest day arrangements. •

Instead of compensating for a rest day forgone, employers can also give your FDW a replacement rest day within the same month.

Your FDW should be able to choose how she would like to spend her rest day, so that she could have a proper emotional and physical break from work. You can encourage your FDW to take part in constructive and meaningful activities such as educational courses and skills training, to help her spend her time more productively. There are non-governmental organisations that offer skills training programmes and organise recreational activities for FDWs on their rest days.

Accommodation

You should provide for your FDW’s basic needs such as a bed or mattress, a blanket, towels and bathroom amenities. Your FDW should only stay at the address stated on the Work Permit card. An exception may be made for your FDW to stay at a different address when you are temporarily not in Singapore.

Adequate Rest

Ensure that your FDW has sufficient rest. • Grant her rest day(s) according to your employment contract with her.

• It is her monthly salary divided by 26 days for each rest day.
• There are 4 rest days each month.

• Within a year, if you have changed more than 4 helpers, or if 3 of them worked for you less than 3 months, you need to attend classroom EOP in order to re-apply again for another helper.
• MOM might interview you the employer, before allowing you to re apply for another FDW.

The salary period agreed between you and your FDW must not exceed one month.

The FDW must be paid her salary promptly and regularly. She must be paid no later than 7 days after the last day of her salary period.

Give her the option of having her salary transferred directly into her bank account.

You must keep a record of all salary payments.

Do not penalise your FDW by making deductions from her salary to offset the costs of her food, lodging, medical expenses or repatriation.

Your FDW should be paid in full. For example, you should not withhold her salary or ask her to put up a bond to guarantee her return from home leave.

You should not withhold the salaries of your FDW on the pretext of safekeeping her salary or delaying payment for extended periods.

• File a missing person report in the Polic Station and cancel her work permit within one week
• If you can’t find your worker within 1 month after the cancellation of her work permit, your security bond will be forfeited
• If reasonable efforts have been made to locate her, half of the security bond may be forfeited.

• You will receive a renewal notice from MOM about 5 weeks before it expires.
• If you want to extend her contract, discuss with her first
• If she is agreeable, then you need to renew her work permit before it expires
• You would also need to renew her medical and PA insurance, and security bond
• If you do not want to extend her contract, you may proceed to cancel her work permit
• Once the work permit is cancelled, she CANNOT work anymore
• Arrange and pay for her passage home
• Inform MOM in writing and return the Work Permit within 7 days after you have cancelled the work permit
• Ensure she departs Singapore within 2 weeks after cancellation of her Work Permit
• If you wish to transfer her to a new employer, your helper needs to be transferred with at least 30days remaining on her Work Permit.

Contact us – purchase the FDW insurance and we will absorb the MOM renewal fees with no service charges.

• If it is lost, you need to apply for a new one within a week, or contact us to apply for a new one
• If it is stolen, you need to report to the police before applying for a new work permit card.

Cost: 

• For a damaged card, the fee is $60.
• For a lost card, the fee is $100 for the first loss and $300 for a subsequent loss.

Yes, outpatient treatments are covered under Medical Expenses as long as the cause of occurrence is due to an accident.

No, the MOM 5K guarantee is included in the insurance package and not sold separately.

Yes, you can add in the waiver within the first 30 days from the effective date of the policy and top up the difference amount.

Insurance policies will be cancelled automatically within 1 month of cancellation of the worker’s work permit.

• All pre-existing conditions which Insured Person has received medical treatment, diagnosis, consultation or prescribed drugs before the effective date of coverage unless Insured Person had been working in Singapore for more than 12 months in a row
• Injuries due to insanity/self-infliction, conditions related to functional disorders of the mind
• Drug addiction or alcoholism

The waiver of counter indemnity option limits your $5,000 bond liability to $250-500 if the breach of the bond is not due to employer negligence or fault. It is an optional feature with additional premium payable under the Foreign Maid Insurance Plan.

For every insurance and bond, there will be an additional 2 months cover as this is a requirement by MOM. It is a precaution that in any event/ reason the maid overstays in Singapore after her work permit expired, she is still covered under the insurance.

Foreign maid insurance and bond, the premium is charged on a 12 or 24 months period, no additional premium is charged for the extra 2 months.

The insurer is acting as a guarantor by providing a Letter of Guarantee to MOM on behalf of employers so that they can apply for a maid without paying out $5,000 cash upfront to MOM. In the event that employer or maid has breached the MOM’s rules and conditions, MOM will call up the bond from the insurer which then recover from you.

• You can apply for one more if you have caregiving needs like having more than one kid less than 18 years old, or elderly parent or parent-in-law living with you.
• They will assess your financial capability, and whether there is enough room for another helper.

Yes, we can. The helper must be between 23 to 50 years old, female, has 8 years of formal education, and be from one of the approved countries in this list:

• Bangladesh
• Hong Kong
• India
• Indonesia
• Macau
• Malaysia
• Myanmar (Burma)
• The Philippines
• Taiwan
• Thailand

We will arrange all the documentation, logistics, legal and medical in your referred helper’s home country before deployment. We will process all required documentation in Singapore, to avoid unnecessary delays.

• It is not required by law.
• To avoid any dispute or unhappiness, you and your helper should have mutually agreed in writing when she starts working for you.
• Usually, in the employment contract, the air ticket, 14 days of wages will be provided by the employer as a reward/appreciation for the completion of a 2-year contract.

The Singapore government requires all employers of Foreign Domestic Workers to provide the following:

• $75 fee for a one-day Settling-in-Programme for 1^st time maids only
• Medical insurance coverage of minimum S$15,000 for the worker per year.
• Personal accident (PA) insurance coverage of minimum S$60,000 for the maid
• A security bond of S$5,000 between you and MOM.
• Payment of a monthly levy of between $300 – 450, $60 if you meet the criteria for concession. The CPF Board collects it via GIRO monthly.
• Your maid to have a weekly rest day, or compensate pay-in-lieu for each rest day not taken, on top of her salary.
• You to pay for your maid’s passage to her country of origin after the end of her contract
• Your maid to go for medical examination every 6 months
• You to bear all your maid’s medical fees during the period of her work permit (except aesthetic or cosmetic)
• All the fees for the above must not be deducted from the maid’s salary.

Your Obligations as an FDW Employer

When you employ an FDW, you are required by law to comply with the Work Permit Conditions. Employers who breach the Work Permit Conditions may:

• Have their FDW’s Work Permit revoked
• Have their security deposit forfeited
• Have their future Work Permit applications rejected
• Be prosecuted in the court of law.

You are Responsible for Your FDW

You are responsible for the supervision of your FDW. You also have a duty to take care of your FDW even if you are not the person involved in the day-to-day supervision of your FDW.

Your FDW cannot work for Another Person or for Your Business

Your FDW is only allowed to work for you; the employer stated on her Work Permit card. She must not be deployed to work for anyone else or asked to help out in your business.

FDW can only do Household Work

FDWs are not allowed to do non-household work. For example, FDWs must not:

• cook for the employer’s food catering business
• serve in a food stall
• work in the employer’s shop, business or office

FDW can only work at Employer’s Address as stated in her Work Permit Card

The FDW should not work at a different location. An exception may be made for FDWs who accompany their employer’s children to a caregiver’s home to care for the children under the caregiver’s supervision. In this case, the FDW must agree to the arrangement and should not be asked to do the full load of housework in both homes.

• Transfer helpers are already in Singapore. They are currently working under another employer, but are seeking new employers for various reasons
• You can meet them face-to-face, talk to them, interview them, and they can start work in a matter of days, after their employers have signed a consent form to be submitted to MOM for approval.
• Transfer helpers are more experienced as they are already working in Singapore, so they require lesser supervision and training as compared to brand new helpers.
• Their Employment History in Singapore would be given to you for better assessment.
• Our fees are lower for transfer helpers, as there are less expenses incurred.
• A new helper takes about 2-6 weeks from the Philippines or Indonesia to be hired, vs days for transfer helpers.

Employers have to be 21 years old and above, not an undischarged bankrupt, have income proof, and the mental capacity to fully understand and discharge your duties as an employer

New Helpers

These are helpers that have no prior experience of working as a domestic helper. This doesn’t mean that they do not have the skills, to work as a domestic helper.

Transfer Helpers

These are helpers that:

• Employers no longer need to employ helpers
• Helpers skills doesn’t match their current employer’s requirements,
• Helpers that are looking for a new employer.

Transfer helpers are already in Singapore, so deployment of transfer helpers will be much faster.

Ex-Singapore Helpers

Ex-Singapore helpers are helpers that have prior experience working in Singapore, and are looking to come back to Singapore for work.

Ex-Aboard Helpers

Ex-Aboard helpers are helpers that have prior experience working in countries other than Singapore, and are looking to come to Singapore for work.

It is a 3-hour programme for 1^st time employers and those who frequently change their helpers within a year, to help them understand the role and responsibilities of an employer

You can choose to attend it online (English only) at $46, or do a 3-hour classroom course at $28 to $30. We can help with your registration. You need to pass the test for Employment Orientation Programme at least two days before you apply for a work permit.

• The government charges a monthly tax for each FDW under you. It will be deducted by GIRO to the CPF Board every month.
• The normal rate is $300-450 per month.

If you have a Singaporean child or grandchild under 16 living with you, or Singaporean spouse or parent or grandparent 65 and above living with you, or Singapore doctor-certified disabled family member (PWD) in your household, the concession rate is $60 per month

• The Singapore Government require a S$5,000 guarantee, in the form of a security bond, from you to ensure that the conditions of the work permit will not be breached throughout the validity of the work permit.
• It will be forfeited when the conditions are not adhered to, like failing to pay their salaries within 7 days, or not sending them back within 2 weeks after their work permit has expired or been cancelled.