EMPLOYER-EMPLOYEE RELATIONSHIP : A SOCIAL SUPPORT FOR FILIPINO DOMESTIC HELPERS IN SINGAPORE""

Abstract

When a stranger resides with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. The stranger who resides with you shall be to you the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself; for you were aliens in the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God. Leviticus 19:33-34 The population of Filipino domestic workers m Singapore has grown and stayed with our families. Over the years, adaptation concerns and extreme cases of abuse and illegal employment have plagued this migrant group. Social support as provided by the employer-family for which the domestic helpers work is an important phenomenon. Yet, there is little attention from local social work profession to the needs of this foreign vulnerable population. This thesis is an attempt to explore and describe the phenomenon of the employer-maid relationship, in the light of the farmer's provision of support to the latter. It seeks to describe the nature of the maids' social support, focusing on the employer-family as one source of support and the factors influencing the employer-family's provision of support for their maids. Data collection methods include on-going observation in naturalistic settings, face-to-face depth interviews with fifteen Filipino domestic helpers, one focus group discussion with employers of Filipino maids and the usage of secondary data sources. Main findings of the study show there is a stronger emphasis on instrumental or practical support rather than expressive or emotional support, with selective reciprocity on the domestic helpers' part. Factors affecting employers' provision of support are intertwined with those affecting the domestic helpers' receipt of it. These include employers' fear of being taken advantaged of by their domestic helpers, and the degree of indispensability of these helpers. Recommendations targeting at both macro and micro-level changes are then made.