The Workplace-Entitlements Knowledge of Filipino and Indonesian Domestic Workers in Singapore

Abstract

Awareness of her workplace entitlements augments a migrant worker’s ability to assert her employment rights. Using an original survey instrument, we construct a composite index of workplace-entitlement awareness among 98 Indonesian and Filipina migrant domestic workers employed in Singapore, assessing their knowledge of their rights to retain their personal documents, receive regular salary payments, and receive a weekly rest day. Multiple regression analysis reveals that awareness levels remain low across both nationality groups though Filipina domestic workers are significantly more rights-aware than their Indonesian counterparts due to a variety of information sources.

Keywords:

• Labor rights
• rights awareness
• migrant domestic workers
• Singapore
• Philippines
• Indonesia

Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to the various NGO experts and academics who provided advice during the initial stages of the project. An earlier draft of this paper was presented at Yale-NUS College and the authors are grateful to audience members for their feedback. The authors alone are responsible for any errors.

Notes

1 In contrast, the MOM requires MDWs to sign a copy of a safety agreement in their native language. The agreement includes specifics about safety conditions employers must fulfill and guidelines about safe workplace practices. Employers and employment agencies are also required to sign the agreement.

2 One respondent claimed that she had never asked to make calls on her mobile phone while at home. She was dropped to avoid creating a separate category under the “Access to Mobile Phone” variable with only one data point. Another respondent insisted she was unsure how many close relatives she had in Singapore and so she was also dropped. Both these variables had been included in the survey form because they were presumed to positively impact rights awareness.

3 At the same time, the fact that the majority of MDWs in Singapore continue to not enjoy a weekly rest day indicates the limitations of rights awareness when migrant workers are situated within a broader sociostructural environment that discourages them from asserting their workplace entitlements (Paul & Neo, 2018; Schumann, 2017; Basok et al., 2014).

4 Still, the Philippines’ effort to entrust the PDOS to governmental bodies with trained-and-accredited private agencies and NGOs is a prudent starting point to better safeguard migrants’ welfare.

Additional information

Funding

The fieldwork for this project was supported by a Summer Independent Research Project grant to the first author from Yale-NUS College and the Alice and Peter Tan Endowment Fund.