All About Full-Time Maids

[moonee]

jtoh:

vividlaurel:

100% agree with this sentence. I did not want to transfer her at all, it was only when the agent said they will go to MOM to complain about me and if I still cancelled her WP, then I will be fined for her overstaying. Added to the fact the maid threatened to run away if I tried sending her away...


Also I remember she used to tell me that when they arrive, they have to go for some training where they are told their \"rights\". According to her, I have no right to send her away as this was what MOM told her. I even got the police to tell her that it is my right to send her away if I want to, but she's not willing to listen.

Don't know what to do now...She's with the agent at some lodging and I have no idea where it is. I don't have her passport or WP with me, thought I have the numbers, so I can book the ticket if I want to.

At the end of the day, because of some rogue employers, MOM tars all of us with the same brush and because of 1% of employers who really abuse their maids, 99% of us suffer with no recourse.

At this point, I am seriously thinking of becoming a SAHM and not working full-time and best of all going maid-less...Heaven!!

[quote=\"LKVM\"]Sometimes I wonder if agents are with them, MOM is with them then who is with us?

The agent has no right to hide the maid from you. As the employer you have the right to cancel her work permit and send her back. You are after all still paying for her work levy right?

Tell the agency that you want to cancel her work permit and that you will be sending her to the airport. If they refuse, call MOM and report the agency. Find out what your liabilities are in the event that you cancel the work permit and the maid refuses to leave and is deemed an over-stayer.[/quote]
agree fully with Jtoh,,,,,,,agent want to complain about u ? what hv they got on u?
The maid is not suppose to be in the premises of another person other then the legal employers home. The agent is not the employereven if u have an outstanding loan. Cancel the w/p and tell them if they dont produce the girl in ... days, u will complain to the police that they are holding ur maid unlawfully. Thats similar to kidnapping, they have no rights to the maid at all. How do u know tha the agent has not sent her out on part time assignments and making money on the quiet. she should right fully be at the premises of the agency where she can be seen.
why dont u go to MOM and seek further advice and stop listening to the stupid agent. Have u forgotten that u are the rightful employer and still paying her levy, i guess if u dnt action fast , the next thing ur agent will do is charge u for the no of days she spent at their agency, so u better act fast. Tell them ur not going to continue paying her levy any longer.

[moonee]

Admummy:

actually what is the purpose of signing that form...my relative very angry to be betrayed by her but they cannot stop her from leaving right....how to send her back if she wanna stay, how to enforce it? the maid does not has any outstanding loan already....actually before she drop the bomb, she has negotiated with my relative for a big increase of her pay, my relative could not accede to her request so she said she got another job... her sudden move caused a lot of inconvenience to my relative... really very bad irresponsible maid.....:mad:

Very simple, since she played ur relative out and did things on the sly u do the same. Now that u have to let her go, make it difficult, the new agent she approached normally charges frm 400 to 600 for a successful recommendation... dnt know if they put a loan on her but nothings free for sure.
Handle the situation tackfully and get a temporary transfer maid fast first. Dont sign her release letter and send her back. If she wants to go to another employer she can jolly well go home and return again and start another loan of which she will probably loose the new employer by then cos its kind of difficult to pass tru their immigration and time consuming too. Of course she wanna stay, too much hasstle going n coming back, too bad for her, she wants to stay for another employer not ur relative so send hr back and if the new employer is interested in her they can buy her another ticket. Why should ur relative help her get employment and be left with no one, i bet she lied to the agent and employer that her contract ended or some other bull. :mad:

[Admummy]

Moonee, smurfy, jtoh,


:thankyou:

now i get it! my relative definitely should NOT sign that form to \"convenient\" that ungrateful maid...你做初一，我做十五；你不仁， 我不仪！wonder if she is aware of the consequences if my relative dun sign that form....if not, she's gonna regret what she did!

[jtoh]

The problem is that MOM advises the maids on where they can go if they are abused. Included in the list are embassies and shelters. So some maids take it to mean that if they are not happy with their employers they can run away to these shelters. Note that this is the maid’s interpretation of their unhappiness. Often times the employers were treating them well. When they get there, the shelters put them up, give them meals etc. They lose nothing. And while they’re there, they gossip amongst themselves and teach each other ways to manipulate the system. And along the way, they get misinformed - that employers have no right to send them back. That so long as they’re at the shelter the employer can’t do anything. This is not what MOM’s regulations state but they hear from other maids that this is the case. And there are unscrupulous maid agencies who feed them wrong info as well. They tell them that the employer cannot send them back, that they can stay for as long as they like in Singapore in the shelter. So you have misinformed and wilful maids (assisted by rogue agencies) making life a challenge for employers. And they do get away with it especially if employers are not experienced or if employers depend on agencies to advise them, not knowing that agencies are in cahoots with the maids. So bottom line is: Employers - know your rights.

[smurfy]

Admummy:

Moonee, smurfy, jtoh,


:thankyou:

now i get it! my relative definitely should NOT sign that form to \"convenient\" that ungrateful maid...你做初一，我做十五；你不仁， 我不仪！wonder if she is aware of the consequences if my relative dun sign that form....if not, she's gonna regret what she did!

yes, not to sign that form, just cancel work permit and get a air ticket. if agent refuses to release maid, lodge police report.

[smurfy]

what my colleague did:


maid quietly go through agent, find new employer. inform colleague that she wants to transfer to new employer. colleague told maid to give her 2 wks to settle things and find new maid. maid becomes black faced since then. colleague decided to just cancel work permit and send her home!

basically i think my colleague did great. hahaha

[nms1]

Although it is very cruel to send them home and incur the costs all over again they have to realise that we cannot be held to ransom. Even if you take a transfer maid it’s not easy to find one within 2 weeks.


I’ve been very fortunate in that although I have lost 2 maids to Canada and one because she had to go home (I’ll leave you to guess why!), they all agreed to wait until I had found a replacement and they had helped to train her. They appreciated the fact that they had been treated well and reciprocated. I think this is what some of the maids forget. We all understand if they decide they want to move for whatever reason - after all we sometimes just decide to move jobs - but there needs to be some give-and-take.

[vividlaurel]

How correct! I think we should all petition to MOM to send all employers (whether new or old) a letter which states their rights just as they do for the maid. This way, even when there are changes in the system, employers know what they can and should do in case of issues with rogue maids.


Most maids know all the loopholes in the system - they have a very good support system here, it's just that the relevant agencies either choose not to acknowledge it or if they do, don't think this support system is helping them. End result - employers at the mercy of agents and maids.

jtoh:

The problem is that MOM advises the maids on where they can go if they are abused. Included in the list are embassies and shelters. So some maids take it to mean that if they are not happy with their employers they can run away to these shelters. Note that this is the maid's interpretation of their unhappiness. Often times the employers were treating them well. When they get there, the shelters put them up, give them meals etc. They lose nothing. And while they're there, they gossip amongst themselves and teach each other ways to manipulate the system. And along the way, they get misinformed - that employers have no right to send them back. That so long as they're at the shelter the employer can't do anything. This is not what MOM's regulations state but they hear from other maids that this is the case. And there are unscrupulous maid agencies who feed them wrong info as well. They tell them that the employer cannot send them back, that they can stay for as long as they like in Singapore in the shelter. So you have misinformed and wilful maids (assisted by rogue agencies) making life a challenge for employers. And they do get away with it especially if employers are not experienced or if employers depend on agencies to advise them, not knowing that agencies are in cahoots with the maids. So bottom line is: Employers - know your rights.

[moonee]

Admummy:

Moonee, smurfy, jtoh,


:thankyou:

now i get it! my relative definitely should NOT sign that form to \"convenient\" that ungrateful maid...你做初一，我做十五；你不仁， 我不仪！wonder if she is aware of the consequences if my relative dun sign that form....if not, she's gonna regret what she did!

Youre welcome! I think u should tell ur relative not to let her know of what they are going to do,,,,, just play along with her and last minute u drop the bomb on her by sending her packing. If the maid knows that yr relative is not signing her release letter she may plan to run to H O M E and she may get what she wants once shes there.
Just act normal and let her feel wanted then drop the bomb back on her. What an Ingrate she is :censored:

[moonee]

nms1:

Although it is very cruel to send them home and incur the costs all over again they have to realise that we cannot be held to ransom. Even if you take a transfer maid it's not easy to find one within 2 weeks.

I consider transfered maids as a temporary measure unless they happen to blend in well on the job and family. My mother wanted my last maid out before i left for my vacation and was left with less than 2 weeks to find a replacement, I knew that if I walk the whole of bktimah shopping cte, Im bound to get one that wants to work. Instead I called my past 3 agents and 2 had transfered maids siting there. I eventually took someone older. I didnt even interview and shes still here today. Anyway I intend to transfer her out as shes not up to expectations but a little help temporarily is better than no help at all.
Im also entitled to 2 free replacemet and hv helped to clear her loan, the agent is also not going to charge the maid a penalty as she has been transfered too many times.