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A first-time masseuse who joined the industry in July 2021 was told that she only had two days off in a month and limited sick leave in her contract.

After developing back problems, she claims she forked out S$52,000 for 80 days of additional leave.

The 80 days consisted of time spent seeing a doctor, resting at home, and being unable to go to work after suffering heartbreak.

What happened

According to Shin Min Daily News, a 26-year-old woman identified only by her surname Li worked at a massage parlour at Block 822 81 Tampines Street.

Li stated that her daily working hours were from 9am to 10:30pm.

According to her, her contract stated that she would receive a S$800 monthly base salary.

However, she found out after starting work that she had no base salary, and would be paid S$13 per hour she performed massages for clients.

Apparently, she was not given a copy of the contract after she signed it.

She told Shin Min that she performed massages for five to six hours every day on average, but would sometimes have enough clients that she would do so for up to nine hours.

She claimed that if her work was not "up to standard", S$800 would be deducted from her salary and she would usually bring home about S$2,200 a month.

Two days of leave per month

After working for about four months, Li started to develop problems with her back and sought medical treatment.

"You have to pay the company if you take more leave than the allocated two days a month, regardless of the reason," she told Shin Min.

The amount to be paid to the company was calculated according to how much money a customer would pay the massage parlour per hour, multiplied by the number of hours an employee is supposed to work in a day.

Rates at the massage parlour were raised from S$105 to S$108 for a two-hour block, she elaborated.

That worked out to S$648 a day that had to be paid to the company for taking leave.

On Jan. 17, she resigned as she was unhappy with the leave system, and lamented that the amount of money she has paid the company is more than what she has been paid by them.

Tried to get back the money

Li claims she paid an agency S$2,000 for getting her the job.

The agency had informed her before starting work that she would have to pay to take extra time off, but did not inform her on the exact amount that she would have to pay.

After her resignation, Ms Li requested that the company return her the S$52,000, but has not received the sum.

She opined that employees who take leave too often and have their work performance affected should be fired, rather than having to pay their employers.

Massage parlour rep denies claims

The boss of the massage parlour, Ping Cai, told a different story to Shin Min, claiming that Li was the one who suggested paying to get additional time off.

Ping said that Li had taken too much time off, and that they would have withheld her salary or fired her if she had not paid them.

"She wanted to rest even after taking the two days off a month and using up her sick leave," Ping said. "She was the one who transferred money to counter staff even without anyone asking her to do so."

The boss added that Li would sometimes transfer funds to counter staff and ask for the sum in cash. The S$52,000 apparently included these transactions.

"If she doesn't come to work, we're wasting the money we spent hiring her, and we won't be able to take on as many clients because of the lack of manpower," Ping continued.

Apparently, Li was the only employee who often took leave.

Ping claims they are usually accommodating towards staff who have to take urgent leave, even if they do not have any off days left.

Li fights back

Li rebutted Ping's words and alleged that paying for time off is an industry practice, and that a female manager at the massage parlour hinted that Li could do so.

According to Shin Min's investigations, such practices are uncommon. The rules for each massage parlour are set by their respective bosses.

The unnamed female manager apparently said: "I'll cancel your work permit if you don't come [to work] and don't pay for the time off."

Li was also allegedly told that the price for taking time off was explained to her in this way: "What do you think? Of course it's calculated according to what the customers pay."

While admitting that she transferred money to the company in exchange for cash, Li insisted that the S$52,000 excludes these transactions.

Top photo via Shin Min Daily News & Google Maps