Upwill
Manpower Placement Agency

Maid Salary Deductions Singapore 2026: What Employers Can and Cannot Deduct (MOM Rules)

By Upwill Editorial TeamMOM-licensed agency • EA Licence 24C2628
Reviewed by Wendy Tan, Director, Upwill Pte Ltd
Singapore employer reviewing a migrant domestic worker pay slip with itemized deductions on a kitchen table
Every deduction from your helper's salary must be itemized, written, and capped at 25% of her monthly basic pay.

If you employ a migrant domestic worker (MDW) in Singapore, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) treats her basic salary as hers in full. Employers can only deduct in narrowly defined circumstances, and the rules are stricter than most households realise. This guide walks through what MOM allows, what is never deductible, and the documentation that keeps you compliant in 2026.

The General Rule: Her Salary Is Hers

Under the Work Permit conditions in Singapore's Employment of Foreign Manpower Act, an MDW's monthly basic salary belongs to her. Any deduction must satisfy three tests: it must be (a) authorised under MOM's rules, (b) agreed in writing with the helper, and (c) capped so that total deductions never exceed 25% of monthly salary in any single month. Fail any of the three and the deduction is unlawful, regardless of how reasonable it feels to you.

Before you compute deductions, you also need a clean baseline salary figure. If you're still working that out, see our guide on how to calculate helper salary in Singapore for 2026.

What MOM Specifically Allows

Checklist of legally permitted maid salary deductions in Singapore including mobile phone loan and personal cash loan
Lawful deductions are narrow: phone advances, cash loans you made, and damages she agreed in writing to pay for.

With the helper's prior written consent, MOM permits a short list of deductions:

  • Mobile phone loan repayment. If you buy her a S$200–S$400 phone on an advance, a typical repayment is S$30–S$50 per month over 4 to 8 months.
  • Personal cash loan repayment. If you lent her money — for a family emergency, a remittance gap, a medical bill back home — you may recover it on agreed terms.
  • Damaged household items where the helper has signed a written admission of fault and agreed to compensate. Note: accidental damage without a written admission is not deductible.
  • Income tax. Singapore does not tax MDW salaries, so this line is almost always not applicable.

Everything else — even costs that feel like they should be shared — is the employer's responsibility.

What Is Never Deductible

Red-flag list of illegal maid salary deductions in Singapore including FDW levy security bond and food allowance
Items the employer is legally required to bear — deducting any of these is a Work Permit condition breach.

The following are employer obligations under MOM rules and cannot be passed back to the helper in any form:

  • The FDW levy (S$300 standard, S$60 concessionary).
  • The S$5,000 security bond premium and MDW insurance.
  • Food and meals — see our food allowance guide for what you must provide.
  • The Settling-in Programme (SIP) fee.
  • Medical examinations — PEME on arrival and the six-monthly medical (6ME).
  • Her air ticket home at the end of contract.
  • Uniforms or employer-required clothing.
  • Cleaning supplies, detergents, household goods.
  • Any agency loan disguised as an employer loan to recover placement fees.

The Agency Loan Trap

Many helpers arrive in Singapore owing six to eight months of salary to source-country agencies for POEA, BP2MI, or equivalent processing in the Philippines, Indonesia, or Myanmar. This is not your business as the Singapore employer. You pay her the full monthly salary stated in her In-Principle Approval (IPA); she remits to her overseas agency on her own.

Some Singapore agencies still propose salary deduction schemes where the employer holds back six months of pay and remits it to the source agency. MOM treats these arrangements with extreme suspicion, and any documentation that shortcuts the helper's right to receive her salary in full is a Work Permit condition breach. If an agency suggests this to you, walk away. Reviewing the criteria to hire a maid in Singapore before signing helps you spot these red flags early.

The 25% Cap, Worked Through

Total deductions in any month cannot exceed 25% of basic salary. If she earns S$650/month, the maximum deduction is S$162.50. If you advanced her S$500 for a phone, you cannot recover it in two months at S$250. You must spread it over at least four months at S$125, or longer if other deductions stack in the same month.

The cap is per month, not per deduction type. A S$80 phone repayment plus a S$100 damages instalment on a S$650 salary already breaches the rule (S$180 > S$162.50). You would need to reduce one of them or extend the repayment period.

Written Agreement Requirements

Before any deduction, prepare an itemized agreement and have the helper sign it. At minimum it must show:

  • The amount loaned or owed, in Singapore dollars.
  • The monthly repayment figure.
  • The total number of months.
  • The reason (phone advance, cash loan, agreed damages).
  • The helper's signature and the date.
  • Your signature as employer.

Keep the original in a folder; give her a photocopy. Verbal agreements are worthless if a dispute reaches MOM.

Pay Slip Itemization

Every deduction must appear as a separate line item on her monthly pay slip. You cannot show only the net figure. A compliant pay slip looks like this:

  • Basic salary: S$650.00
  • Less: Phone loan (month 3 of 6): -S$50.00
  • Less: Cash loan (month 2 of 4): -S$50.00
  • Net pay: S$550.00

She signs to acknowledge receipt. You keep a copy. Both parties should keep these for at least the duration of the contract plus one year.

Common Employer Pitfalls

Even well-intentioned employers slip into illegal practices. Watch for these:

  • Deducting training cost from her salary. Whatever the agency charged you to train her is your sunk cost, not hers.
  • Withholding one or two months' salary as a performance bond. Illegal. Her salary must be paid within seven days of the end of each salary period.
  • Deducting for accidentally broken items where she has not signed a written admission of fault.
  • Charging her for an agency replacement. If the placement fails and the agency provides a replacement, the cost arrangement is between you and the agency.

If Illegal Deductions Happen

If a helper believes her employer is deducting unlawfully, she can:

  • Call the MOM FDW Helpline (1800-339-5505).
  • File for mediation with TADM (Tripartite Alliance for Dispute Management).
  • Approach her embassy — the Philippine, Indonesian, and Myanmar embassies all run MDW assistance desks.

Typical outcomes include full restitution of the deducted amount, a formal warning to the employer, and in repeat or serious cases the revocation of the employer's privilege to hire an MDW. MOM keeps a record, and that record follows you to future Work Permit applications.

End-of-Contract Final Accounting

When the contract ends — whether by completion, early termination, or transfer — you must give the helper a written final accounting showing every deduction made during the employment period, the running balance of any loan, and any outstanding amount waived or paid down. If you collected a deposit or held back salary for any reason (which, again, you should not have done), it returns to her in this final settlement. Settle in cash or bank transfer with a signed receipt.

Bottom Line

The MOM framework is simple in spirit: her salary is hers, you bear the cost of employing her, and the few deductions that are allowed must be written, capped at 25%, and itemized on every pay slip. Get those mechanics right and you avoid the most common Work Permit breach we see at Upwill.