All About Full-Time Maids

[hquek]

cody:

I did that ..... because once bitten twice shy ... so i retained the $600 compulsory savings with me, and told her she can't take this with her when she returns home.

And even when she comes back to start a new contract with me, i will still continue to keep that $600, just in case she wants to break her contract & needs the $$ to buy an air ticket home.

All this is done WITHOUT a bank account .... i give my maid the cash monthly, and she decides what she wants to do with it.
I throw in $20 extra at the end of the 2 years as interest equivalent.


It's saddening that whatever I do to motivate a good maid, nothing is good enough for them.
My maids get 1 day off per month (even tho their initial contract says no day off), gets to use her handphone, gets salary increments, get bonus, gets to go on vacations with us etc etc. .... all this to a zilch.

i'm so tired of hiring maids.
:stupid:

oh dear...despite all you did for them. This is really disheartening. Actually quite think what I read in papers are just hype. Yesterday's paper, a maid with 4 years experience and now only want to work for expats.

My first maid had 5 years of experience with me - during which she only has to clean the house and help out in the kitchen. Whilst we had no other troubles with her (thank heavens), in fact, objective assessment:

1. Cleaning skills not quite there - floor can still be a bit sticky.
2. Cooking skills - PHD in observer (watch my dad cook), probably kindy level in practical (assist to stir kaya and prepare vegetables only).
3. Take care of children - zilch becos we didn't want her touching the kids.

It's my bad at not giving her the chance to learn, but mine is not training centre - I don't want my kids to be her guinea pigs. So ended up she was only tasked to take care of the house. If anyone willing to pay her $600-800 for that kind of skills, good luck to them.

In all, I would say, be careful when the bio data says x years in where becos there's no knowing what her responsibilities are. She may only be dedicated to playing with young kids, or washing dishes that kind of job.

[jtoh]

Thanks hquek and cody.

[MintyMin]

my agent told me that MOM did indicate we cannot hold back their money… and tat now we have to open a bank account for them and not a JOINT account… he said coz a lot of employers hold back maid’s money…


NOt sure if this was communicated to the maid…

[hquek]

celtricia:

my agent told me that MOM did indicate we cannot hold back their money.. and tat now we have to open a bank account for them and not a JOINT account.. he said coz a lot of employers hold back maid's money..


NOt sure if this was communicated to the maid..

Can they open an account by themselves? I usually open a joint account - so I can assist to transact on her behalf. I'm not sure if there is any additional requirement since she's a foreigner.

Anyway, I figure as long as I am aboveboard and am very clear in my accounts with her - I'm not concerned about any other repercussions.

[Chenonceau]

I think it is not good to take maids from established agencies. These agencies are very rough with the maids. When they come to the house, they have already developed a victim’s mentality. I had 2 Filipino maids who were very demanding. I had to buy special food for one who needed to be reminded to eat meals. She would starve herself if I didn’t tell her to eat.


Another used so much strong soap that her hands cracked. I was buying cleaning agents at double the rate that I previously did. She complained about the doctor’s medicine, wouldn’t take it. Wouldn’t wear any of the 3 types of gloves I bought for her. I had to run downstairs a few times a day to check on whether she was wearing gloves… and I had to ask if she was using her creams. And she was always crying even though no one scolded her. I felt like I was dealing with a manic-depressive. And then of a sudden, she wanted to go home because she missed home.

I was relieved to see her go.

My new helper is much better. Her agent is a small time one who hosts the new ones in her own house, and does not yell and scream at the new girls. When she arrived in my house, she was not fearful and on her guard. She has adapted nicely, working quickly and is able to finish most things by 2pm. She spends the rest of the day reading books from our library.

AND we are not expats.

[hope05]

Hi there


The passport for my maid from Phillppines is going to expire soon. Called up the agency for renewal but it is so ex… Tried calling up the embassy but the no one picks up the call. Anyone out there knows what are the procedures for renewal?

Thks & rgds,

[Sun_2010]

tried the embassy website?

[peapot]

Yes they can open an account themselves. My first ex-philino maid open her own a/c at DBS. She didn’t tell me but one day I receive a statement from the bank after she left Singapore. This goes to show she is planning to come back. The statement reflected she had $2500 in the a/c.


I called the bank and told them not to send the statement anymore because the maid is no longer in my house.

[tamarind]

cody:

tamarind:

I had one ex-maid who worked for me for over 2 years. I found out after I sent her away, that she ran away from her previous employer, leaving the new born baby alone at home.


I knew nothing about this when I employed her. The maid agency knew about this, and they knew I needed her to look after my baby, but they still recommended her.

Maid agencies are a bunch of heartless people.

Argh! i hate such agents!!
If they were going to hire a maid for themself, they won't hire such a maid either!
so why did they give us a maid like this?
Pure greed.


:x

The fact is that there are many agencies doing this regularly. I advise employers not to take any maids that are sitting in the office of the maid agency. These maids are most likely sent back by the employers due to poor performance. Do not believe in whatever they tell you.

The biggest problem is that we do not know the history of the maid, and we are not able to contact their previous employers to find out what they have done before.

This is the reason why many employers would rather take new maids without any experience. But then again, new maids can give a lot of other problems.

[lostbunny]

Today my ungrateful maid question my mum for giving her pork floss roll when actually my mum gave her those shrimp rolls. All the while my mum has been careful and considerate not to give maid pork. When we have pork dishes, mum will make sure she prepares a chicken dish for maid. Isn’t that kind enough to the maid. Even if the oil used for frying food with pork (eg wantan) is used to fry fish, my mum will ask maid whether she dare to eat.