It is gone
The Immigration Department puts it plainly: the requirement to collect the Employees Retraining Levy from employers of helpers was abolished after the expiry of the suspension of its collection on 1 August 2013. No employer hiring a helper today pays it, and there is nothing to apply for or claim back.
What it used to be
It was a charge on the employer, not on the helper, paid towards the Employees Retraining Board when a helper was hired. Collection was suspended for a period, and when that suspension ran out the requirement was abolished rather than resumed. Levy that was properly paid before then is not refundable, and any levy still overdue from those years must still be settled.
If an agency still charges it
A line on an invoice that says "levy" is a fee by another name. Ask what the charge is for and get the answer in writing. Whatever an agency calls it, it may never be taken out of the helper’s wages: an agency may charge her at most one tenth of her first month’s pay, in commission, and nothing else.
What an employer does pay
Her wages and food allowance, her medical care, her passage in and home, employees’ compensation insurance, and the visa fee. Our guide for first-time employers sets out each of them with the current figures.
This explains the law in plain words. It is not legal advice — confirm with the Labour Department, 2717 1771.
Sources
- Immigration Department — foreign domestic helpers
- Labour Department — foreign domestic helpers
- Labour Department — Practical Guide for Employment of Foreign Domestic Helpers
Updated 23 September 2026