A chef at a Swiss restaurant who received online flak after he posted an ad for kitchen staff to join an "all Filipino team" has returned to the Philippines.

But his employer and owner of La Fondue restaurant Mr Ravinder Pal, clarified that the chef had taken leave to see the birth of his child, and not because he was fired or unhappy over the recent incidents.

Mr Roginald Santos Oloresisimo, a Filipino, will be back at work on Nov 6, Mr Pal said.

Netizens raised a furore after Mr Oloresisimo posted several discriminatory job ads on various job sites, requesting a "Filipino female" for a manager's position on Sept 18, and for a Filipino chef to join an "all Filipino team" earlier this month.

Some had called for a boycott of the Dempsey Hill restaurant, while others wanted Mr Oloresisimo fired.

Mr Pal told The Straits Times that the "Filipino team" only consists of Mr Oloresisimo, a chef here on an Employment Pass - for which there is no quota - and a Filipina waitress, who is here on an S Pass.

The restaurant has four other employees who are Singaporean - two directors, one accountant and one administrator.

He said that the chef's choice of words was "inaccurate and unfortunate" and that the restaurant's hiring policies do not fall afoul of the law.

Mr Pal added that while Mr Oloresisimo has been reprimanded for the "unauthorised" postings, he has always been happy with the latter's work.