Rest day rules for domestic helpers in Singapore

Your helper is entitled to one rest day per week. Since 1 January 2023, at least one rest day each month must actually be taken — it cannot be swapped for extra pay, no matter what both sides agree.

The remaining rest days can be worked by mutual agreement, but each one must be paid at a minimum of one day's salary on top of the basic pay. This guide covers the rules, the calculation, and the parts employers most often get wrong.

The three rules that matter

1. One rest day a week

Every migrant domestic worker is entitled to one rest day per week. It does not have to be a Sunday — any day works, as long as it is agreed between you and your helper. Sunday is simply the most common choice in Singapore.

2. One rest day a month cannot be compensated away

This is the rule that changed in January 2023, and it is the one most often missed. Of the four or so rest days in a month, at least one must be taken as a real day off. You cannot buy it back, and your helper cannot agree to give it up — the requirement holds regardless of what either of you would prefer.

3. Rest days that are worked must be paid

If your helper agrees to work on any of her other rest days, you owe her at least one day's salary for each. MOM is explicit that this is an additional payment: it sits on top of the basic monthly salary and is not absorbed into it.

How to calculate pay for a rest day worked

MOM's formula divides the monthly salary by 26, regardless of how many days are actually in the month:

One day's salary = monthly salary ÷ 26

Using MOM's own worked example — a helper earning $650 a month who works two of her rest days:

• Daily rate: $650 ÷ 26 = $25
• Two rest days worked: $25 × 2 = $50
• Total for the month: $650 + $50 = $700

That figure is a floor, not a going rate. Many households agree a flat rest-day rate higher than the legal minimum — often $30 to $50 — and there is nothing wrong with that. What matters is that you never pay below the ÷26 figure, and that the amount is agreed in advance rather than settled at the end of the month.

Flexibility that is allowed

• Split days. A rest day can be taken as one full day or as two half-days, if both sides agree.
• Deferral. A rest day that cannot be taken in a given month may be pushed to the following month — but only by up to one month.
• Choice of day. The weekly rest day does not have to fall on the same day each week.

What employers commonly get wrong

• Treating every rest day as buyable. Before 2023 this was broadly true. It no longer is — one day a month is now protected outright.
• Folding the compensation into the salary. Paying a single round monthly figure that quietly includes rest-day pay makes it impossible to show the minimum was met. Keep base salary and rest-day pay as separate lines.
• Dividing by 30 or 31. The divisor is always 26, whatever the month.
• Agreeing it verbally and remembering it differently. Most rest-day disputes are not about the rules; they are about two people recalling a conversation differently three weeks later.

Keeping the record straight

The rules are simple enough. The hard part is the paperwork: knowing which Sundays were worked, which were taken, whether the protected day was used, and making sure the payslip reflects it.

That is the problem HAH! was built for. Your helper proposes how she would like to spend each Sunday, you approve or decline it, and the decision is recorded — so both of you are looking at the same history, and worked Sundays flow straight into the payslip at the rate you agreed. If you just want to check a number, the salary calculator will do the arithmetic without any sign-up.

This guide summarises the Ministry of Manpower's published rules as at August 2026 and is not legal advice. The authoritative sources are MOM's pages on rest days and well-being and calculating pay in lieu of a rest day. Check them for the current position before relying on anything here.