Wait for Filipino maids drags on

Some employers kept waiting for a month; others find way around Manila govt’s demands

It’s the US$400 ($540) pay. And the four days off a month.

In the past month, Filipinas trying to come to Singapore to work as maids have been held up by a standoff.

On one side is the Philippine government, which now conducts exit checks to see if Singapore-bound maids have a signed contract bearing these two conditions, among other things.

And on the other side are maid agencies in Singapore and their clients.

Would-be employers are keen to hire Filipino maids because they speak English.

But they baulk at the US$400 minimum wage and the mandatory four days off.

The reaction among the agencies is mixed: Some say they have been badly hit by the declining number of Filipino maids coming here and may even stop recruiting from the Philippines.

Others point to Singapore’s labour laws, which do not stipulate minimum wages or days off for maids.

The agencies tell the maids to come here anyway, if need be as tourists first. And they tell their clients to sign the Philippine Overseas Labour Office (Polo) contract anyway, claiming it has no legal teeth in Singapore.

The Straits Times reported earlier this month that Manila had stepped up exit screening of Filipinas leaving for jobs here.

Those coming here to work as maids must produce, among other things, a standard contract that states the minimum salary and days off.

The contract, which the would-be employer must sign, has to be verified by Polo and authenticated by the embassy here.

These demands are believed to have existed for at least a year but were enforced only in the last month.

Agencies told The Sunday Times that when the rules were more lax, it took only a week to bring in a maid.

Apple Maid Agency, which specialises in Filipino and Indonesian maids, said 20 clients’ applications are still ‘pending’.

Another agency, HR Connections, said 14 clients have waited close to a month for their Filipino maids.

‘My clients all won’t sign the contract,’ said Ms Suzette Legaspi Oligo, 36, an employee at Apple Maid Agency.

One client, who wanted to be known only as Mr Goh, finds the US$400 figure excessive. He said: ‘You don’t pay new maids so much. You still need to train them.’

Agencies said employers seldom agree to pay a new Filipino maid more than S$400. And many give them just one or two days off a month or a sum of cash in lieu.

Some maid agencies said they are fed up with the onerous application process and have stopped bringing in Filipinas for the time being.

Said a manager at Averise Employment Agency, who wanted to be known only as Leo: ‘We lost half our business.’

He said his firm might stop supplying Filipino maids.

About 196,000 foreigners were working here as maids as of last December.

The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) does not provide a breakdown of the number of maids by nationality.

The Sunday Times understands that some agencies have advised their clients to sign the Polo contract ‘just as a formality’ to speed up the application process.

The maids have also been told that the only contract recognised by MOM is that drawn up by the Association of Employment Agencies (Singapore), which does not spell out the two terms in the Polo contract.

Singapore has no minimum wage policy. Also, contractual terms are a matter between workers and their employers.

Local maid agencies thus have a free hand to offer salaries consistent with what local employers will pay.

Some employers are unfazed by the brouhaha over the Polo contract.

Said Mr Jacky Xu, 26, who runs a tuition business: ‘Maids who accept the local terms will look at their longer-term benefits and are unlikely to spill the beans.’

The Polo contract cannot be enforced in Singapore, said Mr John Gee, 57, president of Transient Workers Count Too.

‘It really comes down to national sovereignty. Singapore has its rules,’ he noted.

He said the Philippine government is probably hedging its bets, hoping that a small percentage of employers will abide by the Polo contract and thus raise the salaries of Filipino domestic workers.

An MOM spokesman said that when requirements imposed by a foreign government or embassy fall outside the local regulatory framework, ’employers will have to decide if they can meet these conditions when recruiting’.

Mr Rodolfo Sabulao, the labour attache at the Philippine embassy here, did not reply by press-time.

In a report by The Straits Times on Aug 18, he had said: ‘As far as the Philippine government is concerned, leaving the Philippines as a tourist, when the intention is to work overseas, is illegal, even if they have an IPA.’

An IPA or In-Principle Approval letter or Letter of Notification from MOM allows foreign workers to enter Singapore legally.

Filipino maids in Singapore whom The Sunday Times spoke to said they prefer to work here for less than US$400, rather than remain in the Philippines with a meagre salary or, worse still, with no pay.

One such maid, Ms Minerve Jandoc, 33, is the eldest of eight siblings.

She has been working for the same employer for 11 years. Before coming to Singapore, she earned 1,900 pesos a month as a store clerk in Luzon. That amounts to S$57, based on current exchange rates. Now, she makes S$400 a month.

‘It is so hard to get a job in the Philippines,’ she said.  –Irene Tham, Straits Times