All About Full-Time Maids

[jollyme]

hi Funz,


I bought my helper's ticket via Jetstar (travel on Value air) for less than S$250 for return ticket to Surabaya. Ticket includes a 20kg check-in baggage allowance to & fro. You may wish to check out their special promotions at http://www.jetstar.com.

Cheers.

[jollyme]

hi [email protected],


Like to share something i read in printout on how to apply for KTKLN in Indonesia.

In order to get the KTKLN card in Indonesia, FDW need to produce 4 documents:-
1) Pasport (Her passport)
2) Visa Kerja (work visa)
3) Kartu Perserta Asuransi (KPA) (participant card insurance), my helper said she can get this in Indonesia
4) Perjanijian Kerja (PK) (Employment agreement). You may get this done, free of charge at the Embassy in Singapore.
They will print out 2 copies, one for employer and another for your helper.

Hope this helps.

[jennykhots]

Hi tamarind,


Can I tag along with some queries :

My maid’s WP & passport will be expiring in Oct, Can I do both at the same time i.e passport & KTKLN card? Is this KTKLN a one time thingy, i.e. if my maid doesn’t want to go on home leave on this coming DEC, can she use this KTKLN for next year’s home leave (DEC2012?)

As for the employment contract can we draft our own employment contract to save time (getting it from tbe officer)? Any advise on the contents besides stating Salary, off day, length of employment?

thanks

[mlim650]

Hi,


My maid of 1.5 years keep borrowing money from me and my mother. She would ask my mother for a $100 loan and than on pay day I would return the money to my mother. Before her one year is up she told me that her father is ill and wish to go back to visit him. I paid for the airfare.

She just borrowed 2 months pay from me (pay till Sept) last month and now she is asking to borrow money again citing that her mother needs knee surgery.

If I advance her pay and she wants to go home citing that her mother is not well there is a possibility that she may not return since she has advance enough pay to worth her while.

To say the least… she is not a good helper. But because of personal reasons I cannot dismiss her.

BTW, her contract expires March 2012.

Any advice? Thanks.

[orangetommy]

Personal reasons suggests that she is blackmailing you, or has something over you. If that is the case it might just be worth paying her in advance and suggesting she visits her mother. Then you could just cut you losses and hire a new maid, perhaps through a reputable agency and make sure that this one has impeckable references.

Otherwise, if she has nothing over you then don’t give her any more money. That is what I think anyway!

[DesertWind]

jennykhots:

....I do not install cameras but I do everything based on trust and genuine care. She gets an off day every mth since 3 years ago. Although last month, she did ask for an extra off per mth which I rejected as my 2 kids are in P5 & P3. But I agreed to an extra 4 off days per year which is reasonable as she can takes them on PH or during when we go on hols....


With regards to MIL or mother issue, I ve learnt that unless the maid comes into the household whereby the elderly is already the PR of your family. Otherwise if she is just a weekly or adhoc visitor, I think we shld tell her to zip her mouth.........

Lastly, I love my maid like a sister, I will buy her sweetdates for her fasting period, buy muslim food such as cow lungs, kueh kuehs, & even go library and loan books on her behalf, let her watch TV every Saturday for an hour, etc . Of course she loves my kids too..

Hope the above helps with those who are caught in between maids and MIL or mothers

Hi jennyknots,
Thanks for sharing.

I agree with the bit about telling MIL/mothers to zip their mouth especially if they are \"visitors\" indeed! That's what I told my MIL that if there is anything she is not happy with the maid, she can tell me instead of the maid! For eg. she once told my maid to clean off the crayon markings off my walls and ask her what is she doing most afternoons...sleeping???

I was a little horrified since I fully dependent on my maid to look after my son (and she did it very well!) and I specifically told her to give priority to looking after my son and not cleaning the house if she is not able to!

When you can get a good maid who can help you, no choice, you will just treat her very well. Likewise if MIL/mother can help us, we would have treated them very well too! But unfortunately when MIL/mother cannot even help us, too bad, don't come and tell my maid off and create trouble for our household since we are the ones who got to live with the maid!
:lightrod:

[DesertWind]

mlim650:

She just borrowed 2 months pay from me (pay till Sept) last month and now she is asking to borrow money again citing that her mother needs knee surgery. ....


To say the least.. she is not a good helper. But because of personal reasons I cannot dismiss her.

BTW, her contract expires March 2012.

Any advice? Thanks.

Hi Hi,

I ever loan my maid about 2 months of salary too and I did not like the feeling at all although she stayed with me for 4 years already! That was to pay for her daughter's stay in hospital for about a week.

During that 2 months tempers were short since she owed me money.

After that, I told her very clearly that I will not ever loan her more than 1 month again. Irregardless of what situation. So far when she went on home leave to build the house and want more money to pay the builders, at most I advance her that current month's pay. The rest she can otang, come back work for 2-3 months then remit money back again to pay off the builders or get another part built!

Long and short, take a stand and either tell your maid you will not loan anymore or at best just for one month. If you cannot terminate her now but don't want to be caught lending her money, this is what you should do. If she not happy she can walk off herself and then you can change maid!

My 2-cents worth!
:moneyflies:

[jennleeong.045113gmail.045113com]

Thanks Jollyme … I hv that agreement during our recent pp renewal where we had to go level 2 to do the contract signing. I can make that copy. But that insurance for th maid, she has to buy them herself in indo? Where should she go to get this done? I want to do the online application first bu how to get the login? All in bahsa!! I think my fdw will oso hv problem cos she already had to ask for help when filling up forms when we wen to renew her pp!!! Haha. Anyone can guide me along?

[jollyme]

hi [email protected],


My helper said she believed the assurance card can be obtained from the airport. However, she don't know if its chargeable.
I can't be sure whether the info. my helper gave is reliable cos she's still in Singapore, will only leave for hometown on 3rd week of August. Maybe other ks parents can help?

[mlim650]

Orangetommy:

Personal reasons suggests that she is blackmailing you, or has something over you. If that is the case it might just be worth paying her in advance and suggesting she visits her mother. Then you could just cut you losses and hire a new maid, perhaps through a reputable agency and make sure that this one has impeckable references.
Otherwise, if she has nothing over you then don't give her any more money. That is what I think anyway!

\"Personal reasons\" in that I may need her assistance later on due to some of the events she witness. I'm sure she know that I'm dependent on her and she is using this to her advantage. Hence I'm stuck in this delicate situation.

DesertWind:

Hi Hi,

I ever loan my maid about 2 months of salary too and I did not like the feeling at all although she stayed with me for 4 years already! That was to pay for her daughter's stay in hospital for about a week.

During that 2 months tempers were short since she owed me money.

After that, I told her very clearly that I will not ever loan her more than 1 month again. Irregardless of what situation. So far when she went on home leave to build the house and want more money to pay the builders, at most I advance her that current month's pay. The rest she can otang, come back work for 2-3 months then remit money back again to pay off the builders or get another part built!

Long and short, take a stand and either tell your maid you will not loan anymore or at best just for one month. If you cannot terminate her now but don't want to be caught lending her money, this is what you should do. If she not happy she can walk off herself and then you can change maid!

I guess I will go with the \"one month advance\". Actually if she is telling the truth then I won't mind advancing her salary to aid her mother's medical treatment. Unfortunately there is no way to tell for certain.

Thank you all for your advice.