Programmes Required for Employers and Maids in Singapore

Introduction

Both of you and your maid need to go through special training before your maid can start working with you. You as an employer must complete the Employers’ Orientation Programme while your maid must attend the Settling-In Programme. You will receive the information and resources on being a successful employer from the Employers’ Orientation Programme.

The Settling-In Programme has become a requirement for hiring a foreign maid as of 2012. It will either be conducted in English or the maid’s native tongue and it aims to teach the maids about living and working securely in Singapore.

Employers’ Orientation Programme (EOP)

What is the Employers’ Orientation Programme?

The Employer’s Orientation Programme (EOP) makes an effort to educate employers of foreign maid on their obligations. All first-time employers must take this necessary course, which costs between S$35 and S$60 for an in-person and S$35 for an online course. Additionally, if you constantly change your maids (more than 3 maids in a year), you must take this course. You must attend the in-person programme if you are switching to your fifth maid. You can only submit an application for a work permit after at least two days after you complete the course. You may be eligible to choose a representative or sponsor to attend the EOP on your behalf under these conditions:

• You are suffering from chronic medical conditions.
• You are non-ambulant.
• You are 60 years of age or more and suffer physical discomfort.
• You are expected or has given birth within one month.

Your chosen representative or sponsor must complete the EOP course at least two days before you apply for EOP exemption. One day after your sponsor application is approved, you can move on with your work permit application.

EOP Coursework

The EOP is a three-hour training that includes the following topics:

• What it means to be an employer
• What are the responsibilities of an employer
• How to understand your maid
• How to create a safe workplace
• How to promote positive relationships

Although you are not required to complete the course in a single sitting, you must do so within three months of the date of your registration. Grace Management & Consultancy Services Pte Ltd and Nation Employment Pte Ltd are the two agencies that are hosting the EOP.

Settling-In Programme (SIP)

Who is the Settling-In Programme for?

The Settling-In Programme is for the foreign maids who start to work in Singapore as their first jobs. This indicates that they either have no history of employment with the Ministry of Manpower or they have a work permit that that have not been used (i.e. she received a work permit for Singapore but decided not to come into Singapore to work). Within the first three working days upon your maid’s arrival, she must complete this training. All first-time foreign maids could not be exempted. If they don’t attend this training, their work permit will not be issued and they will be repatriated to their home country.

Costs and Requirements

The foreign maid’s employer will have to pay S$75 for this course. Make sure your maid has her embarkation card, a photocopy of her In-principle approval letter, her original passport and a copy of her educational certificate proving that she has completed at least 8 years of formal education, before sending her to the Settling-In Programme (SIP). The SIP is hosted by three accredited agencies: NTUC LearningHub, Grace Management & Consultancy Services and Absolute Kinetics Consultancy. You may contact each centre to find out the schedule of the training in a particular language.