Minister of State for Manpower, Gan Siow Huang, said on 22 May that the Ministry of Manpower will be implementing a mandatory rest day by the end of 2022 for migrant domestic workers.
She said the employers will be required to give the workers at least one rest day each month, and it cannot be compensated away.
Explaining the move, she said that this allowed the domestic workers to form a network of support outside their workplace (the household) and let them rest and recharge.
At the moment, domestic helpers are provided a minimum of one rest day per week which they can choose not to take up in exchange for additional compensation of one day’s pay, if both employer and the worker agrees.
Gan also posted a video onto her Facebook page yesterday, wishing a Happy May Day to all migrant domestic workers.
Here is what she said
Migrant domestic workers are a great help in many of our households. I am glad that NTUC Singapore and Centre for Domestic Employees – CDE have put together a May Day event to acknowledge their contributions.
As part of the celebration, I recorded a short video message to thank our migrant domestic workers for being strong pillars of support for families in Singapore. I also thanked CDE for the longstanding partnership to better support our migrant domestic workers’ well-being.
Happy May Day to all migrant domestic workers!