Should maids be given a day off every week?
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hquek:
3 handphones!! Hahaha.... what kind of big business she managing?! Perhaps one for calls, one for sms and the last one for internet surfing? LOL
I do know of another maid working for a relative. Been here many years, but her savings are a pittance, if any. reason? she has 3 handphones and use them to full effect. When money ran low, she just helped herself to her employer's money (that was one reason they finally gave up on her). -
Flower Power:
may be one phone for husband to call, one for the Bangla boyfriend to call, and one for the internet
3 handphones!! Hahaha.... what kind of big business she managing?! Perhaps one for calls, one for sms and the last one for internet surfing? LOLhquek:
I do know of another maid working for a relative. Been here many years, but her savings are a pittance, if any. reason? she has 3 handphones and use them to full effect. When money ran low, she just helped herself to her employer's money (that was one reason they finally gave up on her). -
Hahaha… possible. Easier to identify caller by phone, otherwise too eager to answer the calls when phone rings, scarly call out the wrong name then will have a hard time explaining.
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verykiasu2010:
may be one phone for husband to call, one for the Bangla boyfriend to call, and one for the internet
wah..big business yah.. :rotflmao: :rotflmao: :rotflmao: -
verykiasu2010:
That's why it's been a fair deal until some people abused their maids. It doesnt justify their behavior but this law doesnt educate/ punish such people.
that is exactly what first first maid did, bought land, big piece of land, build big house, sent the sons to university, huge banks deposits, living on bank deposit interest income alone, after working for us for 5 years.....and we are still slaving for our maids here
It punish the DHs who want to save $. It punish the conservative bosses. It justify people who overwork their DHs to say since the DHs get a weekly day off, its alrite to slave her the remaining 6 days. -
verykiasu2010:
may be one phone for husband to call, one for the Bangla boyfriend to call, and one for the internet[/quote]We had a neighbour maid in our estate before who had a business phone - and her business is selling phone cards to other maids. She also takes order from neighbour's maid who has no off-days to buy stuff for them ranging from food to toilettries to Toto and 4D :yikes:
3 handphones!! Hahaha.... what kind of big business she managing?! Perhaps one for calls, one for sms and the last one for internet surfing? LOLFlower Power:
[quote=\"hquek\"]
I do know of another maid working for a relative. Been here many years, but her savings are a pittance, if any. reason? she has 3 handphones and use them to full effect. When money ran low, she just helped herself to her employer's money (that was one reason they finally gave up on her). -
Pen88n:
this will be one fdw praying that there is no legislation for weekly day off...else she has to find new biz.
We had a neighbour maid in our estate before who had a business phone - and her business is selling phone cards to other maids. She also takes order from neighbour's maid who has no off-days to buy stuff for them ranging from food to toilettries to Toto and 4D :yikes:
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verykiasu2010:
As i understand from what is reported in the press, the maid's day off is indeed a big sticking point.
I do not think the ILO pressure is on off day per se. Look at what is reported today about 400+ workers squeezed into dormitory meant for only 215. That is the main issue, and things like that.
This is not an argument for imprisoning the maid as some forumers like to claim. It is simply wrong that in a free market an employer cannot be free make a mutually acceptable agreement with the maid. Worse than a communist government or a police state.
Many free market nations have laws that govern how contracts can be written. If a law is passed that constrains what an employer can ask of a maid, it is a labour law, not communism, and in the case of Singapore, if passed, will merely bring us in line with the majority of free market economies. The rules already apply under the Employment act anyway, for the majority of workmen, and nobody calls that communism, yes?
As I indicated earlier, not everything (or contract) can be on a willing-buyer, willing seller basis, some rules need to be in place, like the employment act, extended to maids, for instance. And I say again, it is not communism, and it is not wrong. I think anyone with responsibility for running an organisation or managing staff will hopefully understand that. -
SMH FOREST:
Indeed I have.....it is the same coin, just 2 sides. But that's not the same as skewing or distorting.
Why I say skewed? It's becos my points were taken to prove your point. -
I have no issue with giving maids a day off. Like most people, however, I do have an issue with making it a blanket rule.
My husband and I work 5-1/2 days a week and we have 2 children. There are two sets of grandparents whom we visit & run errands for on the weekends. I did not have a maid up until about 2-1/2 years ago, when it became too expensive to send my children to after-school care. Plus I got really sick as I was working full-time + doing housework + taking care of my kids 24/7. Yes, maybe there is a whole world of people out there who can cope. But at that time, I could not, and having an extra pair of hands gave me room to breathe. My ex-maid had one day off per month + time off during other days to run her own errands like going to the bank, etc. The one day off started out as 9am to 5pm (though agent told me 9am - 3pm). Towards the end of the two years, she never came back before 7pm, and quite a few times after 9.30pm. When I questioned her and told her to give me a call if she were to return late, she gave me black face. I did not renew the contract when the 2 years were up.
My mother-in-law is wheelchair-bound and senile. She has a maid, but with no days off. It is easy to say, have a family member look after her for a day. We visit her on Sunday but regrettably, none of hubby’s siblings do. So do I give up my only day with my children, so that the maid can have a day off? Truthfully, I am not that magnanimous. And what kind of mother would that make me, that I don’t even spend time with my own children? My MIL’s maid wheels my MIL downstairs twice a day to chit chat with other maids. She also has a boyfriend whom she meets frequently. We turn a blind eye to all that as long as my MIL is taken care of.
Yes, there are people who can cope. Old folks in many countries stay in retirement villages, but the culture here is different. My MIL may be senile, but we know that she wants to live in (and eventually pass away) in her own home. Thus, we continue paying for 2 maids (ours & hers) even though it is a big financial burden.
Just the day before, we decided to terminate our contract with our new maid of 7 months. I do not think I am too fussy, but I do draw the line when she likes nothing better than to make instant noodles for my children, tells me that cooking is time-consuming and sleeps the whole afternoon away. My elder dd is in P5, and I told her that after school, she would have to be home alone and take care of meimei. I am blessed with a wonderful neighbour whom I know will keep an eye on the 2 of them in the afternoon, but I know not everybody is as fortunate.
No two persons – and how they cope with life – are the same. Let the day-off issue be an arrangement between employer and employee. I choose to believe that most employers in Singapore are fair, and will do what is right.
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