All About Full-Time Maids

[3phds]

I renewed my maid contact in Mar 2011 and compensated her S$500 for not going back to Philippine for home leave. However, she now don’t want to work and want to leave in Sept. I May I know should I ask her to return me the home leave compensation in prorated?

[Andaiz]

I've had my smarty pants maid for close to 2 years now. Am now home as in-between jobs....so got more time to monitor.


Yesterday morning, I discovered that she bought a secondhand 3-G phone for a whopping SGD 250 (which is about PHP 7000 BTW), and has :slapshead: set up a FB account, with sexy pictures. :sick:

My gosh, I'm in such a shock! :scared: :yikes:

But rules are rules in my home. So the phone is confiscated for a week, and returned to her only in the evenings - where it's her time and she can text then. Then for the rest of her stay, she needs to put the phone outside in a known area (buying a special holder today) during the day.

Asked her if I had been texting throughout my day in the office, would the boss be happy....she said no. So same rules apply here coz we employed her! She can text, provided all her tasks are completed, and it is her own time.

This morning, she woke up half an hour later in spite of going to sleep one hour earlier last night. I give her the benefit of the doubt but I know she's been texting and possibly FB-ing about the $%^^)@!(# of an employer in me.

Ha, do I care? :evil:

[jtoh]

omgmum:

jtoh:

Isn't boiling an egg the most basic cooking skill? Maybe she's pretending she doesn't know so you can show her?

I don't think she was pretending. I think she really didn't know. Or maybe they don't use pots to boil eggs over at her place? :scratchhead: Yeah, or maybe she just wants to see if I'm really a cooking idiot! Hahaha!

Just make sure she doesn't try to boil an egg in your microwave... with the shell on. :yikes:

[jtoh]

3phds:

I renewed my maid contact in Mar 2011 and compensated her S$500 for not going back to Philippine for home leave. However, she now don't want to work and want to leave in Sept. I May I know should I ask her to return me the home leave compensation in prorated?

Isn't the home leave expense for completion of contract? So the S$500 is in lieu of her air ticket home. That being the case, you shouldn't be asking for the money back.

[beanstalk]

3phds:

I renewed my maid contact in Mar 2011 and compensated her S$500 for not going back to Philippine for home leave. However, she now don't want to work and want to leave in Sept. I May I know should I ask her to return me the home leave compensation in prorated?

$500 seems alot; a budget ticket back to the Philippines is about $300 only. However, I believe the home leave/compensation was for the 2 years she has already completed, so she does not 'owe' you anything in that sense.

Guess if she's been good to you guys, I'd say just see the money given as a bonus. And be more careful next time.

[3phds]

$500 home leave compensation is part of the agreement in her contract. But if compare to the money spend on her home leave (agency free for home leave application, air ticket and 2 weeks paid leave) i think it is still cheaper. I feel being cheated as I believe she planned to leave once she received the $500. I should have used the money to get a new maid replacement instead. Lucky that she is leaving only 6 months after her new contact, what if she want to leave one month after the new contract and I have paid her the $500???


So another question now is should I ask her to bear for her own air ticket for return to Philippine?

[jtoh]

3phds:

$500 home leave compensation is part of the agreement in her contract. But if compare to the money spend on her home leave (agency free for home leave application, air ticket and 2 weeks paid leave) i think it is still cheaper. I feel being cheated as I believe she planned to leave once she received the $500. I should have used the money to get a new maid replacement instead. Lucky that she is leaving only 6 months after her new contact, what if she want to leave one month after the new contract and I have paid her the $500???


So another question now is should I ask her to bear for her own air ticket for return to Philippine?

The $500 home leave compensation is part of her original 2 year contract. So the money is hers. Even if she went home at the end of the 2 years, you would have had to buy an air ticket home for her (albeit this would have cost you less than $500). In any case, you wouldn't have been able to use the money to get a new maid.

With regard to whether she should buy her own air ticket home, you have to check her contract because this is usually spelt out clearly.

[senses2010]

My maid has yet to complete the contract but she wants to go back to Indonesia immediately. May I know that if I were to ask her to buy her own air ticket to go back, will it be against the MOM rules ?


Following are the terms on the contract regarding the repatriation of the FDW :

1. The employer shall be responsible to bear the cost of repatriation of the FDW at all times

2. Upon termination or expiry of the contract, the Employer shall bear the cost of the FDW back to her city of origin.

- Above two terms in the contract seem rather contradicting to me as I’m supposed to bear all the cost of repatriation at all times (Clause 1) but on the other hand, I need to only bear the cost of repatriation upon completion of her contract (Clause 2).

[nms1]

3phds:

$500 home leave compensation is part of the agreement in her contract. But if compare to the money spend on her home leave (agency free for home leave application, air ticket and 2 weeks paid leave) i think it is still cheaper. I feel being cheated as I believe she planned to leave once she received the $500. I should have used the money to get a new maid replacement instead. Lucky that she is leaving only 6 months after her new contact, what if she want to leave one month after the new contract and I have paid her the $500???


So another question now is should I ask her to bear for her own air ticket for return to Philippine?

It is right to say that the $500 you paid her is in recognition of the completion of her previous 2 year contract and even if she decided to go home one month later, it is her right to keep it.

If she wants to go home now, it is a grey area in that MOM will say we are responsible to send them home. I would suggest that you find the cheapest ticket you can - if you are comfortable with her being around for a while book her a budget airline ticket for a few month's time which should be really cheap then start looking for her replacement.

[jtoh]

senses2010:

My maid has yet to complete the contract but she wants to go back to Indonesia immediately. May I know that if I were to ask her to buy her own air ticket to go back, will it be against the MOM rules ?


Following are the terms on the contract regarding the repatriation of the FDW :

1. The employer shall be responsible to bear the cost of repatriation of the FDW at all times

2. Upon termination or expiry of the contract, the Employer shall bear the cost of the FDW back to her city of origin.

- Above two terms in the contract seem rather contradicting to me as I'm supposed to bear all the cost of repatriation at all times (Clause 1) but on the other hand, I need to only bear the cost of repatriation upon completion of her contract (Clause 2).

I read the two clauses as the employer being responsible for the cost of repatriation at all times (ie doesn't matter who initiated the termination of the contract). And that you need to send her back to her city of origin, meaning if she was from jakarta, you need to send her back to jakarta and not bintan.

Clause 2 states 'upon termination or expiry'. Doesn't state who initiated the termination. The maid can choose to terminate the contract too.