Helper End-Contract Queries

Our helper is about to come to the end of her 2-year contract with us. She was planning to renew with us but has said she will not take her 14 days holiday and therefore, does not need an air ticket to Philippines either. Instead, she has requested that we give her the cash instead for the air ticket and a payout for the annual leave. I told her that we will check the policy first to see if we must pay her cash upon her request or if she is supposed to receive the ticket and take the holidays. She got very upset and said she would just not renew with us if we didn't grant her request, whereby, we would have to pay her then anyways.


My question is: do employers have the right to choose whether to give the helper cash in lieu of ticket and annual leave? Is the helper by law required to take the annual leave and plane ticket at the end of a contract and if she doesn't want to, is the employer under obligation to payout?


Another question: once you've paid the 2 years levy tax for signing on a helper and she chooses to leave before completing the two years, can any of the tax money be refunded? Or is it just tough luck for the employer and none of the money can be refunded?

As to your first question; the foreign domestic worker law in Singapore does not state that it is mandatory for either your helper to take her leave nor for you the employer to give a cash payout in the event that she does not take her air ticket. These decisions are usually made and agreed upon between the helper and her employer prior to employment, sometimes there are agreements signed between both parties stating these terms if you had signed your helper from an agency, which helps things in the event of disputes like these.


I do however agree with cara that you ought to check with immigration if you wish to better understand and clarify this matter.


As regards to the maid levy paid by employers in Singapore; are you not paying the levy monthly? Maid levies are payable by you, the employer as long as the helper is registered as employed under your name. The contract signed for employment of a domestic helper is for 2 years but the employer can choose to terminate this employment anytime before then. However like i said before, the levy is payable as long as your helper is still registered under your name. Thus in the case of maid transfers, you might have to pay the levy until the transfer is completed, which shouldn't usually take very long when there is another prospective employer involved.


Hope this bit of info helps. If you are thinking of making transfers for your maid, please feel free to contact me at as i am a freelance maid agent and will be able to help you through a new maid placement if necessary, thanks and good luck.

1. Do employers have the right to choose whether to give the helper cash in lieu of ticket and annual leave?


You are obliged to provide free passage which includes air ticket, airport tax, travelling allowance, and meals. The later two are only required if she has to make another long journey from the airport to her home(say she lives in a province that requires 1 day bus travel). But that amount is not much.($100 - $200 would suffice).


I don't think she can force you to give her cash. As long as you can satisfy the contract, that's it. You can even buy the cheapest tickey yourself.


As for the annual leave, this is what I got from labour department website FAQ. Note that this is a general question:


Q. Who determines the timing of annual leave?

A. The timing of the leave should be appointed by the employer after consultation with the employee or his representative. The employer should confirm by a written notice to the employee at least 14 days in advance, unless a shorter period has been mutually agreed.



2. Is the helper by law required to take the annual leave and plane ticket at the end of a contract and if she doesn't want to, is the employer under obligation to payout?


I believe she has to return.


Again, you have to confirm any of this from the labour department.

JT, Cara - yes, we are based in HK so need to know the HK policies. Will definitely check with immigration but posted here in case someone else had experienced the same queries/situation as us.

My helper told me last week that there is a new policy in place whereby the helper finishing a contract must return to her country of origen. However, if she is to start a new contract with the same employer or even a different employer, the employer can make an appeal to immigration to delay the timing of the return. She will still have to return to her country at some point later that year. Of course, I don't know if this is correct, so do talk to immigration.

Thanks tskn9 for your helpful reply. Actually, we do not want to payout for her holidays and rather have her take them instead. That's why I had asked if we could choose (to NOT pay her)because she said that if we don't payout, then she'll just not renew with us so that we have to. I wanted to know if there is a rule that the helper must take the annual leave and if they choose not to, then does it mean the employer must pay them? It sounds like we have to pay her if she decides not to renew with us. I just didn't like the way she kind of got really angry with me when I said that I will check what the policy is first. Her attitude was one of threatening us that unless we comply with her request, then she would leave. We didn't really want her to leave because she's been looking after our son since he was born (he's now 21 months) and he likes her and is used to her. It'd be hard for him to adjust to someone new at this point. Basically, it was just her attitude about it all that put me off.

cara - you have a point about her attitude on this situation. but I think she is stressed for money because she has some lawyers fees to pay and she freaked when she came up against a wall--ie. expecting to be paid out in lieu of holidays and then us saying we need to check first.


from where we sit, we don't really want to find a new helper because our son is quite used to her and seems to like her but at that same time, we don't want to pay her out for the annual leave if we have a choice not to do so. we want her to take her annual leave. that's why i posted to see what choice we have.

Dear 24

Somehow I think we should let our children know and understand that helpers come and go and only parents stay. Having a live-in maid is really a luxury that is only found in Asia countries. I agree to tskn9 that kids can adjust to new people better than we expect.

Mighty is right. Kids are amazingly flexible, and I think it helps if they have at least one thing which is steadfast and doesn't change (that is, you, and evn better that you have no 2 in hubby).


Decide what you need to, your son will adapt fine. I was actually shocked at how quickly one of our helpers was seemingly forgotten.