Singapore's foreign maids to get day off The bargaining power of migrant domestic workers is weak because so many of them are indebted to recruitment agents fom the moment they arrive in Singapore. Employers also have the unilateral right to cancel a work permit and terminate her employment without justification. As a result, workers who wish to claim their right to a weekly day off may end up losing their jobs instead. There are over 200,000 foreign domestic workers in Singapore, the majority from south-east Asian countries such as the Philippines and Indonesia. Wages are rarely high, hours are very long, and they are not entitled to safeguards such as a miminum wage. Many will also face physical or psychological abuse during their time in the affluent city-state. Human Rights Watch, which has been raising concerns about the treatment of domestic workers in Singapore for years, said that even with the new reform, protections for migrants would "still lag behind those of other migrant-receiving countries." "This important reform should also go into effect this year and apply to all domestic workers and their current contracts," Nisha Varia, a senior women's rights researcher at the watchdog, added. Some Singapore employers have spoken out against the change, with particular concern voiced about the activities domestic workers might engage in on their days off. Others, however have said they are pleased the change is being implemented. Justin Harper, a British expat working in financial services who has had an Indonesian maid for six months, said he had heard "horror stories" about the treatment of some migrant domestic staff, and already gave his every Sunday off. "It also gives us a chance to our own privacy and to do our own household chores once a week," he said. Addressing the worries of employers, MOM said that it planned to give foreign domestic workers "advice on what constitutes appropriate behaviour on a rest day."