Boss fined for not paying RI maid

Boss fined for not paying RI maid

SINGAPORE: An employer who did not pay her Indonesian maid for almost two years has been fined and ordered to pay the overdue wages in the first case of its kind in Singapore, news reports said on Wednesday.

Clerk Enilia Donohue, 29, was told to pay Achdaniah, 19, the sum of 3,580 Singapore dollars (US$2,118) after the prosecution successfully appealed against a magistrate's refusal to make the order.

She was also fined 12,075 Singapore dollars, equivalent to two years and 11 months' maid levy, for illegal employment and 3,000 Singapore dollars for failing to pay Achdaniah.

It was the first time the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) has prosecuted such a case and obtained a compensation order in relation to unpaid wages.

Donahue admitted to two charges of employing a foreign worker without a valid work permit and not paying her wages.

The court order "sends a very strong, good signal so employers will realize that it's their basic responsibility to pay their foreign domestic workers their wages," Helen Tan, president of the Association of Employment Agencies, was quoted as saying. -- DPA