Report: In Singapore, over 80pc of theft and criminal wrongdoing claims against maids do not result in charges

SINGAPORE, Aug 16 — Over 80 per cent of criminal accusations made by employers in Singapore against their maids never result in charges being filed by the authorities, said a report released yesterday by a migrant workers advocacy group.

In 20 per cent of all these cases, the accusations were made after the maids arrived at a shelter run by the Humanitarian Organisation for Migration Economics (Home), and it believes these are “revenge” claims to retaliate against the migrant workers.

The findings are based on 100 cases of migrant domestic workers accused of crimes between January 2019 and June 2022, and who stayed at a Home shelter.

The report was inspired by former maid and Home shelter resident Parti Liyani.

She was accused of theft by her former employer Liew Mun Leong, who was the former chairman of Changi Airport Group, and his family.

Parti was eventually acquitted after a long-drawn legal saga spanning more than three years.

Theft accusations make the bulk of cases

Theft accusations make up about 76 per cent of all cases, the report said.

These accusations were often petty in nature and involved small amounts of money or items valued less than S$100, such as an item of clothing or a bag.

For example, in one case, an employer had filed a police report against a domestic worker for allegedly stealing S$10.

Physical abuse came second after theft, making 13 per cent of the cases made against migrant domestic workers.

The report also found that only 18 per cent of all cases actually led to a criminal charge. These include 14 cases of theft and two of causing hurt.

Meanwhile, 36 per cent of all the cases resulted in no further action taken against the migrant domestic workers, and 43 per cent were given a stern warning.

Three out of the 100 cases were dropped.

Accusations affect maids’ livelihood, cause trauma

Though the majority of the cases did not lead to a criminal charge, the maids still have to bear heavy consequences as a result of just being accused of a crime.

While waiting for a formal outcome, they are unable to or face difficulty in finding employment, leading to financial insecurity.

In addition, they also have to find outside accommodation, such as Home’s shelter, where workers typically stay for an average of four months.

Some employers are aware of the precarious financial and legal positions that workers will face if they are accused of a crime and while assisting police investigations.

They may use this against the workers by threatening to call the police, which is the most commonly used threat by employers against domestic workers.

Besides financial consequences, the report said that workers still suffer the trauma of the accusation, even when the investigation leads to no further action taken.

In addition, they are not compensated for the damages they incurred throughout the whole process.

Allow workers under probe to work

To address these issues, Home detailed four recommendations in the report:

• Allow workers who are assisting in investigations to work

• Allow workers given stern warnings to work

• Provide live-out options for maids

• Give workers a right to change employers

TODAY has reached out to the Ministry of Manpower for comments on the recommendations.

In the report, Home said that workers who are assisting in investigations are put on a special pass issued by the investigating authority.

The individual investigating officers typically have the discretion to allow the worker to work or not.

In previous years, Home’s experience has been that victims of crimes have been allowed to work, the report stated.

On the other hand, those who are accused of committing the crime have not been allowed to work at all, though Home observed that more of such workers have been allowed to work in a variety of sectors, such as the food and beverage sectors.

The automatic right to employment should also be extended to workers who have been given stern warnings.

Currently, Home said, work permit holders who have been given stern warnings are generally barred from seeking employment in Singapore, though the organisation has seen some exceptions to this.

The report also suggested that domestic workers be provided with live-out options to professionalise the domestic sector and make the workers less susceptible to accusations against them.

This is because the mandatory live-in nature of domestic work can give rise to situations where the personal and professional issues between employers and workers are “melded together” due to the very close proximity.

This makes live-in domestic workers more susceptible to accusations from their employers.

Migrant domestic workers should also be allowed to switch employers with clearly defined notice periods, Home said.

This should be done upon the expiry of their work permit terms and without their employers’ consent.

By allowing them the right to change employers, it can avoid situations where workers run away to prematurely terminate their employment.

Such situations may trigger employers to make accusations against their domestic workers out of revenge. — TODAY