Something to share about maid

[Katharina]

What happens if...
1. Your maid steals.
If you are very sure she has stolen your valuables, you should just send her back to her own country. dont't bother making a police report. It is not worth the trouble.


2. Your maid eats too much.
Unless you are very generous, it is always better to separate your maid's food from the rest of the family. If your maid eats with the rest of the family, dont't tell her to take whatever she wants. Always take out a reasonable amount of food for her.

3. Your maid is very lazy.
Write out a detailed time table, tell her what she is expected to do at what time, and how much time she should take. Give her some time to improve. If she still does not improve, then you should send her away and find a new maid.

4. Your maid runs away.
dont't panic first. Most likely she will return to her maid agency, or the police will find her within a couple of days. If she still has not finished paying for her loan, the agency will transfer her to a new employer, so you dont't have to pay anything, but of course the new employer suffers.

It is still best to buy the bond protector/waiver. If your maid cannot be found, then you will pay $250, instead of the $5000 security bond. You will be given one month grace period to find your maid.

5. Your maid gets pregnant.
You can send her back to her own country once you found out about it. dont't need to lose the $5000 security bond.

6. You want your maid to work in 2 households or more
Under the existing Work Permit conditions, Foreign Domestic Workers (FDWs) are employed to perform domestic chores only for their employers at the residential addresses stated on the FDWs' Work Permit cards.

I believe all maids have been told that they should not work in 2 households. There are some maids who may agree to do so, but note that this is against MOM rule.

An exception may be made for FDWs who accompany their employer's children to a caregiver's home to care for the children under the caregiver's supervision. In this case, the FDW must agree to the arrangement and should not be asked to do the full load of housework in both homes.


7. If you change maid more than 4 times in a year
MOM does not have a rule that says you cannot change more than 4 times a year. MOM only makes it more difficult for the work permit to be approved.

Employers who apply for their fifth Foreign Domestic Workers (FDWs) within a 12 month period must attend the Classroom FDW Employers' Orientation Programme (EOP). Failure to comply with this requirement will result in the rejection of their Work Permit (WP) application.

Employers who apply for their sixth FDW or more within a 12 month period must attend an interview with an MOM officer before the Ministry will process the WP application. The purpose of the interview is to enable us to gain an understanding of the employer's practices for assessment of the WP Application.


8. If your maid keeps making mistakes
Some employers penalise their maids by making them pay a fine. But I would advise employers never to punish their maids.
If the maid always make the same mistakes, no matter how many times you correct her, then you should just send her away. Otherwise you risk losing control of your temper and doing something nasty to her. Then you may end up in jail.
Remember that maids are human. A maid can hate you when she dislike your punishment. The fact in Singapore is that other people are much more likely to believe that the employer abuse the maid. So it is very easy for the maid to accuse the employer. correct her mistake immediately in a cool, calm manner. If she makes the same mistake again, remind her that this is her 3rd/4th/5th time of making the same mistake. if she still does not change start to look for a new maid.
I would advise employers to use a reward system instead.



9. If your maid said that she saw ghosts in your house
It could be that your maid does not like to work for you, she is finding excuses so that you will send her back to the agency. Or your maid could be having mental illness. Any way, you should send this maid away as soon as possible.


10. Your maid tells you "If you are not happy with me, send me away"
If you said the same thing to your boss, what will happen ? You should start looking for a new maid. There are many many maids out there looking for jobs, there is no need to tolerate this one.



Extracted from Singaporemaid blogspotancing_tongue:

 

[charlottetan]

what happens if...
1. Your maid steals.
if you are very sure she has stolen your valuables, you should just send her back to her own country. Dont't bother making a police report. It is not worth the trouble.


2. Your maid eats too much.
unless you are very generous, it is always better to separate your maid's food from the rest of the family. If your maid eats with the rest of the family, dont't tell her to take whatever she wants. Always take out a reasonable amount of food for her.

3. Your maid is very lazy.
write out a detailed time table, tell her what she is expected to do at what time, and how much time she should take. Give her some time to improve. If she still does not improve, then you should send her away and find a new maid.

4. Your maid runs away.
dont't panic first. Most likely she will return to her maid agency, or the police will find her within a couple of days. If she still has not finished paying for her loan, the agency will transfer her to a new employer, so you dont't have to pay anything, but of course the new employer suffers.

It is still best to buy the bond protector/waiver. If your maid cannot be found, then you will pay $250, instead of the $5000 security bond. You will be given one month grace period to find your maid.

5. Your maid gets pregnant.
you can send her back to her own country once you found out about it. Dont't need to lose the $5000 security bond.

6. You want your maid to work in 2 households or more
under the existing work permit conditions, foreign domestic workers (fdws) are employed to perform domestic chores only for their employers at the residential addresses stated on the fdws' work permit cards.

i believe all maids have been told that they should not work in 2 households. There are some maids who may agree to do so, but note that this is against mom rule.

an exception may be made for fdws who accompany their employer's children to a caregiver's home to care for the children under the caregiver's supervision. In this case, the fdw must agree to the arrangement and should not be asked to do the full load of housework in both homes.


7. If you change maid more than 4 times in a year
mom does not have a rule that says you cannot change more than 4 times a year. Mom only makes it more difficult for the work permit to be approved.

employers who apply for their fifth foreign domestic workers (fdws) within a 12 month period must attend the classroom fdw employers' orientation programme (eop). Failure to comply with this requirement will result in the rejection of their work permit (wp) application.

employers who apply for their sixth fdw or more within a 12 month period must attend an interview with an mom officer before the ministry will process the wp application. The purpose of the interview is to enable us to gain an understanding of the employer's practices for assessment of the wp application.


8. If your maid keeps making mistakes
some employers penalise their maids by making them pay a fine. But i would advise employers never to punish their maids.
If the maid always make the same mistakes, no matter how many times you correct her, then you should just send her away. Otherwise you risk losing control of your temper and doing something nasty to her. Then you may end up in jail.
Remember that maids are human. A maid can hate you when she dislike your punishment. The fact in singapore is that other people are much more likely to believe that the employer abuse the maid. So it is very easy for the maid to accuse the employer. Correct her mistake immediately in a cool, calm manner. If she makes the same mistake again, remind her that this is her 3rd/4th/5th time of making the same mistake. If she still does not change start to look for a new maid.
I would advise employers to use a reward system instead.



9. If your maid said that she saw ghosts in your house
it could be that your maid does not like to work for you, she is finding excuses so that you will send her back to the agency. Or your maid could be having mental illness. Any way, you should send this maid away as soon as possible.


10. Your maid tells you "if you are not happy with me, send me away"
if you said the same thing to your boss, what will happen ? You should start looking for a new maid. There are many many maids out there looking for jobs, there is no need to tolerate this one.



Extracted from singaporemaid blogspot:dancing_tongue:

interesting facts! Although i dun have a maid now.=) ahahha thanks.

 

[Edwinie]

that's helpful! all the common probs and what to do.

i believe in treating a maid (i prefer to call her 'helper') as how you would like to be treated yourself, treating her like family. if i have a helper, i'll let her eat with my family together. eat more better. her work requires lots of physical energy. (some families don't do that, i'm shocked to know. saw some in STOMP, they made the maid stand up while they eat!)

As long as i put in my best, i hope the helper will give me the best too and at least meet my basic expectations.

 

[kittyyeo]

that's helpful! all the common probs and what to do.

i believe in treating a maid (i prefer to call her 'helper') as how you would like to be treated yourself, treating her like family. if i have a helper, i'll let her eat with my family together. eat more better. her work requires lots of physical energy. (some families don't do that, i'm shocked to know. saw some in STOMP, they made the maid stand up while they eat!)



As long as i put in my best, i hope the helper will give me the best too and at least meet my basic expectations.

i used to believe this theory...but somehow somewhat went wrong...maybe when u got chance to read my post u can advice me...

 

[mommytots]

This is a hot issue now in the media. Not many have the leadership or people skill.

Well, I agree with treating people like what you expect people to treat you.

If those maid don't appreciate it, then I'll get another one. Not all maid are perfect also (do you expect it when you pay them so little)?

In my career with maids for more than 10 years. I have 2 only. So, I am blessed with good ones. Communication and setting expectation is important. Bring them to holidays like what you will do to your family.

May be a course for employers on how to handle maid perhaps? New exams. hahaha.

Oh it is good to have inlaws or parents to supervise of course, if you have understanding people.

If not, you will need to have a cctv installed. Let them know that you are watching.

 

[pipilili]

Maid issue can be tricky sometimes. But I think treating maid as part of the family is impt too.

I always make sure maid is trained by local agency once they have touched down SG, this is so that they are aware how to do the general work which is required, and other additional work (take care of elderly, infant).

When I am collecting maid, I also make saure agency tell maid not to steal. Meaning: Agency has warned you. And I will reiterate when maid is home with me. Meaning: I have also warned you. And if I catch her red handed, you will not go back to Indo but to jail first! (let them be aware of the consequences)

When maid is unpacking her bag, I always keep watch what she brought, cos in case she bring some "gong tao" to the hse. Knowing what she brought, how much $$ she brought also equate to you knowing what she has. So if she has other additional - it means they are stolen goods.

My family has an Indon maid, and we are Chinese. To make sure she has a balanced diet, we need to ensure there is chicken on the table for her to eat. Our Indon maid is a big eater (esp for rice, one mountain plate) but we dun mind cos we feel that if she can eat, she shd be able to work more. (more energy) And so far, she is ok.

 

[pipilili]

Sometimes, it may not be a good idea to tell the maid she has done this wrong and that wrong daily. Maybe can let her get used to the chores before correcting her.

Our family told the maid to check out the stuff to clean, and DIY. We told her we shouldn't need to tell you what to clean and what not to clean. She should clean when she see something is dirty. Honestly, the cleaning wasn't fantastically clean. But we just bear with it for around 2 weeks before we tell her she must clean it with which detergent, how she shd clean it. Now she is doing it well. After ard 4 weeks, we told her to scrub the in b/w of the floor tiles and she has also done it.

As she is also doing the cooking, we were more stringent on kitchen cleanliness. Ie: Plates, Bowls should not be oily after washing. Veg needs to be washed, soaked before cutting...Knives should be washed before using. For kitchen cleanliness, we really watched her do it for 1 mth before allowing her to DIY without supervision.

She is also tasked to cook dinner. So everyday my mum will cook, and she will see. My mum didn't actually tell her she will be cooking for the family herself...after 4 days, my mum told her she will cook dinner for the family on Fri night (cos the least # of ppl is back for dinner). It's funny to see how "gan cheong" the indon maid become. The first dinner she made was not fantastic and we commented that it's not great. (everyone at the table) Then my mum told her she needs to cook for the family so she needs to know how to cook chinese dishes...from then on, you can see her "on her engine" to learn properly. Now she cooks dinner for us and asked each of us if she cooks well. We always give her our honest feedback...sometimes certain dishes pass, certain dishes fail. And I think she is learning, which is good. hahhaa, in fact she has some specialty dishes she cooks v well.

 

[mommytots]

Very good. You win some, you loose some. A maid is a human and is not perfect. If she is perfect, then she won't be working for you correct? She would be a head chef of some restaurant or someone who works for arnold or someone richer than you or in hongkong. hahaha. So, manage your own expectation well. Nothing comes cheap now days. You pay peanuts, you get what? I am sure you know pretty well.