Well, not exactly, as they can compensate them in cash instead, if they prefer. And not till January 2006. Currently, according to a poll of 284 Indonesian, Filipino, Indian and Sri Lankan helpers, half work 365 days a year.
By law, their counterparts in HK get one day off a week, plus around 12 public holidays, including Christmas, New Year, Easter, National Day (October 1).
Any employer who fails to comply with the day off or cash compensation can be reported for breach of contract. It doesn’t have a reputation for being a no-nonsense, disciplinarian state for nothing.
More here.
Pretty common practice for domestic workers. Here in Canada they’re supposed to work only 40 hours a week, but if their employer asks them to work more, what can they do?
If they lose their job (even if it’s no fault of their own, eg. if the employers are abusive, or if they ignore labour laws) they are quite likely to get sent back. It costs a pile of money to get here in the first place, and they do it so that they will be permitted to apply to be a landed immigrant. No guarantees. It used to be that if they worked here for two years they would become landed, but too many Jamaican women came and stayed and the government didn’t like that, so they tightened the rules.
There is a special category of visa for domestic workers (and also migrant agricultural workers) in this country that essentially amounts to indentured slavery. These people are not visitors, not immigrants, they are not eligible to collect employment insurance (although they’re required to pay into it), and in the case of domestic workers they do not have freedom of commerce (they need to get the gummint’s permission to change employers) or mobility (they must live in the home of their employers). They are usually paid minimum wage, less room and board, and have no leverage whatsoever in case they are asked to work unpaid overtime or otherwise exploited. Their safety and fair treatment depends entirely on the goodwill of their employers.
It’s an absolute disgrace and there is no justification for it whatsoever other than historical attitudes about race, class, gender and work.
One day a month in Hong Kong. Here? God only knows.
No, one day a week is the legal requirement in Hong Kong, though it’s not always observed. (Speaking to long-term helpers with large networks, around half to two thirds of employers here observe this.) The traffic between HK, Singapore and the Middle East, in terms of Filipino helpers, at least, is early all to HK, rather than from it to S’pore or ME, which suggests not only that pay is better here, on the whole, but also conditions. Another important indicator of the socio-legal situation is that overseas helpers have successfully taken their employers to court in a number of high profile cases. Some of these have resulted in custodial sentences for the employer, for, for example, assault.
Some people believe the balance has swung too far the other way - towards the helpers - and that they get preferential treatment from the courts and tribunals. My colleague at work, according to her side of the story and I’ve worked alongside her for five years, was advised to pay her former helper out in full when she was taken to the Small Claims Tribunal, because she received advice that the helper was always favoured in cases to do with salary. This despite the fact that the helper’s contract had been terminated with good cause after she brought her lover back to the flat in the afternoon while she was meant to be looking after the children.
The freedom that the helpers, especially the Filipinas, get to organise and apply pressure - to have a voice which counts - is very important here, and needs to be strongly protected.