All About Full-Time Maids
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hquek:
I am convinced that there is no such thing as a honest maid. I had an Indo maid that stole hundreds (perhaps thousands) and then had the audacity to call a year later when she was working in Taiwan. My most \"kwai\" Fili maid left a stack of phonecards and a love letter from a 60+ American man - no wonder she was so slow at her work... she spent most of her time on the phone. Recently discovered that my breadmaker (which I had not used for a long time) was missing, am certain that my previous maid (who worked for me for almost 4 years) must have taken it and sent it back to Philippines. I wonder what else she might have taken. My current Indo maid claims that she does not want a handphone cos she said that she spends most of her salary in Malaysia to foot the phone bills but then uses her \"underdeclared\" hong bao money to buy phone cards! Basically, I don't trust maids anymore... always look after your belongings well when there is a maid at home.
Agree with you - I don't care if they are spending all their money. I only worry if they are topping whatever deficits with MY money.worryalot:
haiz.... ya, if they want to go out and spent it all i dont care. Hope mine dont ask for off day when her loan finish. I doubt it since she has 'relatives' here. my only concern is dont want her to get into trouble and I have to send her back.
Have heard feedback from those around me where maid was so blatant as to steal from her and her DIL (she helped herself to monies they kept in their bags/cupboards - it wasn't as if the money was placed carelessly on table tops) time and again. And I'm talking about $50/$100 each time. Ever heard also of a maid (another person) who stole thousands of dollars (at one go) that was kept in a drawer - this was to a close friend (and not reported in papers - they just sent her back). -
Sad but true. Even the really innocent ones get influenced by the more experienced ones who ‘teach’ them to tell white lies to get away with things. You want to give them the benefit of the doubt but it gets harder each time you get burnt by dishonest maids. All I can say is, give them due respect, but be super vigilant about your belongings.
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i sent maid back to agency and was required to pay for her lodging till she is transferred to another employer. Max is a mth but agency wants me to sign on the form, it was stated i agree to pay for the lodging 1 mth (30 days) x $15 = $450.
When i qn agent, she said ya max is a mth and will pro-rate if shorter den a mth which is only verbally mentioned will not be stated in the form.
my qn is do i go ahead sign on it?
2nd thing to ask: she came over declaring of having on $2.80 with her and yet after i ask for her cny red packets, she had alot extras on her. i asked for her red packets as baby’s was missing. she claimed employer gave it to her as her pocket $$ but she only worked for the ex-employer for a mth so how to get the extra $50 excluding the red packets? and the notes are new notes, claiming she forgot to declare. so total she has with her $90 over. she said no more, everything declared to me. 2 wks ago, she told my gal not to let me know she made phone calls. my ma checked her things and found some more coins on her by flipping her clothes one by one.
i have no proof she stole but the fact she had declared only $2.80 end up having even more and still have when we rummage thru her stuff. i have yet to give her the pocket $$ as i deducted it for her sanitary pads and deodorant. she misplaced 3 of my expensive bras and ironed new dress with a hole thou told her not to iron it. she asked me to deduct thru her salary which i din even do it.
if i return the $$ to her means i have wronged her for stealing (which i didnt) but if i dun return it to her, den is it too mean of me? ma was saying dun need to cos we duno how much she had taken from us and spent it while oh her way bringing baby to school.
advice pls and tia -
agent helped her saying ex-employer let her keep the change from purchasing groceries so maybe dat’s how she got the extras. but my point is how come she confessed with more only till i asked for the red packets and told me no more with her den only when my ma flipped her clothings one by one and $$ dropped out den she said she didnt search her bag properly.
agent is also not helping me to counsel her to work properly but rather tell me no choice lor. so i gave up the free replacement as well.
1st time encountering this -
catang:
I think that the maids nowadays are pretty bold. My current maid still refuses to admit that she used the underdeclared hongbao moneys to buy phone cards. She insists that another maid gave the phone card to her and that she lost the hongbaos. When questioned on how much was in the hongbaos, she insist that she didn't check and does not know. Of course, I don't believe her but what to do, she's a good maid, can do the work and get along with the kids, and as far as I know, we didn't lose any money. So am keeping her and being extra vigilant.agent helped her saying ex-employer let her keep the change from purchasing groceries so maybe dat's how she got the extras. but my point is how come she confessed with more only till i asked for the red packets and told me no more with her den only when my ma flipped her clothings one by one and $$ dropped out den she said she didnt search her bag properly.
agent is also not helping me to counsel her to work properly but rather tell me no choice lor. so i gave up the free replacement as well.
1st time encountering this
I don't have any personal experience on this. Almost all my maids completed their 2 year contracts or extended. I only allowed my previous maid (after almost 4 years) to transfer and because I didn't take another maid from the same agency, I refused to cough up any money to be paid to the agent. The agent earns from the maid's transfer and that's it; otherwise, I was prepared to buy an airticket home for her. I also told my ex-maid not to be fussy with her selection of new employer, as I was not willing to pay too much levy and will cancel her work permit if the transfer took too long.
Heard that some agencies do charge $15 a day till the maid is transferred. I also heard of employers that insist on keeping the maid with them until a new replacement maid comes. This is to \"incentivise\" the agent to expediate their replacement maid, and since they have to pay $15 a day, might as well have the maid working at their home. Then the maid transfers out from their home on the same day that the new maid comes. Don't know if this will work for you? To me, it is dangerous to sign the document cos you will be paying the levy and the charge of $15 a day, whilst the maid picks and chooses her new employer. -
i have gotten a new maid and so far so gd but she’s unable to get her work permit as the previous one has to be transferred out b4 current can go for thumb printing.
just wondering any of u ever need sign food and lodging form as i have never done it with other agencies. this agency is PLP Management located at Tampines Mart -
catang:
How many kids do you hv?i have gotten a new maid and so far so gd but she's unable to get her work permit as the previous one has to be transferred out b4 current can go for thumb printing.
just wondering any of u ever need sign food and lodging form as i have never done it with other agencies. this agency is PLP Management located at Tampines Mart
If you hv more than 1, then new maid can be tagged to another kid.
Else, i think it is still possible as long as you've signed the intent to transfer form. MOM will give in-principle approval. You call up MOM to ask. I hv a v strong feeling that your agency is trying to eat you.
I've never signed any food n lodging form when i transfer maids. Usually, this food n lodging fee is waived. You have to check your contract to see how many days you are liable for such expenses (levy n food/lodging). Mine is only 14 days. If it is indeed 1 mth, then maybe it is better to cancel work permit, buy budget air ticket and let maid go home. It will cost less. Unless your maid has outstanding loans. You need to do your sums. -
i give post dated cheque for her loan. she’s only with me 1 mth plus. so even if i send her back, i can just cancel the balance chq but signed on the contract to give agency a mth for the maid to be transferred out.
guess i have no choice but to be prepared to pay for $15 x 30days, but i won’t sign another form for dat ;(
shld i still give her the monies back which she under-declare to me?? from $2.80 becomes $95.40 which is a huge diff and it’s new notes. some are from red packets but only few relatives gave so she couldnt have so much and my relatives are very ngiow they wont give more den $4 to maid (ma checked with them the next day). my gals’ red packets tally except for my boy so we concluded she pocketed it and when i asked her for it, she was opening them halfway and den tell me she had "forgotten" to tell me abt her pocket $ from previous employer. i m asking this qn cos thou we knew very well she pocketed the monies, we dun have proof that caught her in the act of exactly how much was stolen.
talk abt the agent, if they believed maid, they would have helped the maid to ask me back for the $$ but they didnt. cos i sent her back immediately when ma found even more $$ after searching her stuff, she still insist it’s hers cos she didnt check her belongings thoroughly. agent just said "oh ok lor send her back to us."
how how how?? -
Does it work if we throw a question to the helper that whatever that is not declared would be considered as stealing from us
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catang:
hi catang,i have gotten a new maid and so far so gd but she's unable to get her work permit as the previous one has to be transferred out b4 current can go for thumb printing.
just wondering any of u ever need sign food and lodging form as i have never done it with other agencies. this agency is PLP Management located at Tampines Mart
Sorry about your situation. Regarding the cannot get workpermit, I have not heard of this. My ex-maid was with me for a week when my current maid came in. Current maid has her wp after she pass her exam - then and only then the agency will release her to my place. Yes, I paid 2 maid levies for the time when both maids were in SG) and both had their wp. There are other employers with 2 or even more maids.
As for food and lodging form, I'm not surprised the agency wants to protect themselves - as long as maid is with them, they will want to charge you for housing her. But during the time she is sitting there, you are still paying for her cpf. I'm not sure if you can get the $170 becos there are 2 maids under your employ. BTW, you are still liable for her - remember the case where the maid was waiting for transfer in agent's care and fell out of the window (didn't die but was hospitalized), the employer was liable for her hospitalization expenses.
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