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Oral Answer by Ms Low Yen Ling, Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Manpower, to Parliamentary Question on short-term work permits for Foreign Domestic Workers

Foreign manpower Work passes and permits

NOTICE PAPER NO. 1619 OF 2019 FOR THE SITTING ON 07 APRIL 2019
QUESTION NO. 2731 FOR ORAL ANSWER

MP: Mr Desmond Choo

To ask the Minister for Manpower whether the Ministry will consider introducing short-term work permits for foreign domestic workers to provide respite support for families and to allow employment agencies to cater to families requiring short-term domestic help.

Answer

  1.  Hiring an FDW who works and lives in the household is a major commitment on the part of the employer. It could be detrimental to an FDW to be brought into Singapore for short-term respite support, where she may encounter uncertainty about the duration of work or when employers’ needs change suddenly. The FDW might also not earn enough to repay the agency fees or loans she has taken in order to come to Singapore.
  2. To help families with short-term options, MOM introduced the Household Services Scheme (HSS) in 2017, which allows foreign workers to provide domestic services, such as cleaning, to households. While they may be deployed to specific households for short periods, the foreign workers under HSS are employed full-time by the service providers, and on longer duration contracts.
  3. Families caring for the elderly and who require short-term care options, can also tap on respite care services available at senior care centres or nursing homes. For younger children, families may engage child care centres or student care centres on a suitable care arrangement that meets their needs, which may include short-term care.