BY AMELIA TAN

SINGAPORE – A short film has been launched to urge employers to give their domestic workers a day off every week.

The two minute-long video “Mums & Maids” features interviews with mothers, children and their maids.

Through a series of questions and answers, the video shows that that domestic workers understand their employers’ children better than their employers.

Marketing communications firm Ogilvy & Mather teamed up with migrant workers group Transient Workers’ Count Two (TWC2) for the video to mark Labour Day on May 1.

TWC2 president Noorashikin Abdul Rahman said the film aims to show employers that giving their maids a day off is not an inconvenience but an opportunity to bond with their chidren.

“Family bonding is the responsibility of both parents,” added Dr Noorashikin.

Since January 2013, domestic workers must get one day off a week or must be given a day’s wages in lieu.

However, a recent survey of 670 maids by foreign worker group Humanitarian Organisation for Migration Economics found that only 40 per cent of the respondents had a weekly day off.

“Mums & Maids” can be viewed at http://igiveadayoff.org/