Handling emergency leave for your MDW: what the rules say and what kindness looks like

A phone call in the middle of the night. A parent rushed to hospital. A flood that has swept through the family home. When something serious happens to your MDW's family in the Philippines, Indonesia, Myanmar, or wherever she is from, the situation lands on both of you at once.

Singapore's Employment of Foreign Manpower Act does not prescribe emergency leave entitlements for MDWs the way it does for some other worker categories. That means there is no fixed legal number of days an employer must grant. What exists instead is a contractual relationship — and how you handle a crisis in that relationship will define it for a long time.

What your contract probably says

Most standard employment contracts for MDWs include a clause allowing the employer to grant unpaid leave at their discretion. Some employers and agencies add a set number of paid or unpaid leave days. If your contract is silent on this, that silence works against both of you. It pays to add a simple clause before a crisis forces the conversation.

The practical questions that come up fast

When an MDW asks for emergency leave, employers tend to face the same set of decisions quickly. Can she travel home? Who covers her flight? Will her salary continue during her absence? How long can the household manage without her? These are real questions, and they deserve honest answers rather than stalling.

On flights: many employers split the cost or cover it entirely for a genuine bereavement or medical emergency. This is not legally required. It is, however, the kind of gesture that workers remember — and that affects whether they stay with you after the crisis passes.

On salary: unpaid leave is the norm, but some employers continue partial or full pay for the first week. Again, not required. Entirely your call. Worth thinking through in advance rather than in the moment.

What a clear policy looks like

Before you need it, write down your household's position on emergency leave. How many days would you grant? Would you contribute to a flight? Would you keep the job open for a reasonable return period? Sharing this with your MDW early — not as a legal document, but as a conversation — builds exactly the kind of trust that makes a working relationship last through hard moments.

An MDW who knows her employer will not penalise her for a family emergency is an MDW who is fully present when she is at work. That is not sentiment. That is how reliable employment relationships actually function.

At Anisya, we help employers and MDWs build arrangements that are clear from the start — so that when life gets complicated, the relationship holds.