Saving where a domestic worker works for less than 24 hours per month, it is a legal requirement for employers to provide their domestic workers with written particulars of employment. This is most commonly done in the form of a contract of employment.

If you do not have a contract of employment with your domestic worker, or if your contract of employment is insufficient, it is beneficial to both parties for the respective rights and obligations to be concisely set out in a legally binding contract of employment.

Sample contracts of employment are available online with this manual (both full-time and part-time) which can be downloaded and customized according to your particular circumstances.  The commencement date in the sample contracts of employment can be back-dated to the date that your domestic worker actually commenced work.

Click to download contracts of employment which can be customized and edited in accordance with your needs.

Prior to discussing a contract with your domestic worker, it is advisable to download the relevant contract of employment and customize it so that it reflects your current agreement with your domestic worker (i.e. hours of work, wages, benefits, etc.).

When doing this, regard should be had to this manual to ensure that you are offering the requisite minimum terms and conditions of employment in respect of wages, hours of work, leave and the like. If the current terms and conditions of employment are insufficient, they must be increased to meet the minimum requirements.

You should then informally meet with your domestic worker and advise him/her that it is a legal requirement for proper particulars of employment to be provided and accordingly that you have prepared a draft contract of employment. There is no need to be self-conscious about having such a discussion with your domestic worker and the following should be emphasized:

• that the contract is only being implemented for the purposes of compliance with the sectoral determination applicable to domestic workers which requires such written particulars of employment;

• that the contract sets out what is required by law and it will not reduce the domestic worker’s current terms and conditions of employment (i.e. the domestic worker will continue to receive the same wages and benefits);

• you should explain the terms of the contract of employment in simple terms;

• you should afford your domestic worker the opportunity to consider the contract of employment and to ask any questions that he/she may have about any provision contained in the contract;

• you should thereafter jointly sign the contract of employment and provide your domestic worker with a signed copy (to the extent that the domestic worker requires additional time to consider the contract of employment, that time should be granted).

If a domestic worker refuses to sign the contract of employment, you should enquire about any particular concerns as the refusal to sign may be based on a misunderstanding or a fear of being short-changed or dismissed. These fears can be allayed accordingly.

If the domestic worker persists with a refusal to sign the contracts of employment, a contemporaneous note should be kept regarding the date on which the draft contract of employment was provided to the domestic worker, the discussions surrounding the implementation of the contract of employment and the reason the domestic worker refused to sign. You should advise your domestic worker that he/she is required to perform the duties and functions listed in the contract notwithstanding his/her refusal to sign.

The requisite terms and conditions of employment set out in this manual (i.e. prescribed hours of work, minimum wage, etc.) can then be implemented unilaterally. This cannot, however, result in a reduction in any existing terms and conditions of employment and where existing terms and conditions of employment are more beneficial than the statutory minimum the existing terms and conditions should be reflected in the contract of employment.