nms1:

dooelsie:

My maid could not breathe and I brought her to the doctor, she say she had ashma when she was 10 and had small attacks regularly but hid it away frm us. Her housework has not been completed all this while and the Doctor gave medicine and her ashma should be under control for now but I dont know whether to keep her cos she still want to stay on with us.

She did not declare her illness and if I keep her I will hv to keep watch on her and send her to doc for medicine for I dont know how long. I guess if i send her back to the agent she will be transfered. What advice would you give? I did not inform the agent yet.

if she's just mildly asthmatic then an inhaler should be enough to keep it under control in which case the cost would be relatively low. Is it fair to transfer her to another employer because you don't want to pay for it?

Nms1, pls read my post and not jump to conclusions. No where did i say that i do not want to pay for simple medication for a mild medical problem. Although employers are not obliged to provide medical care for chronic pre-existing medical conditions. Not even an insurance company will do that! And it is not responsible to transfer her to another unsuspecting employer without informing them of her condition. Pls do not imply this as the next logical solution. I am more concerned that I have to keep watch on her as her condition could develop into chronic asthma. I have a friend's son who passed away from an asthma attack because he did not have his medication at hand.

My relatives are in HK and as what everyone think, it is not alll true that the maids are paid US400. Some are paid lesser. Yes, we hv no tax since 2008, not all get off days weekly. It depends. There are many maids working for employers relatives houses for US400 and none complain cos they need the money. A lot work more than 12 hrs a day, there are some that dont meet expectation n are sometimes not paid or paid much later.

Sleeping conditions may not b all that comfortable at times too as houses are normally considered quite big when its 500 sq ft. So singapore is heaven to some who have worked in HK

My maid could not breathe and I brought her to the doctor, she say she had ashma when she was 10 and had small attacks regularly but hid it away frm us. Her housework has not been completed all this while and the Doctor gave medicine and her ashma should be under control for now but I dont know whether to keep her cos she still want to stay on with us.

She did not declare her illness and if I keep her I will hv to keep watch on her and send her to doc for medicine for I dont know how long. I guess if i send her back to the agent she will be transfered. What advice would you give? I did not inform the agent yet.

I do not take jam, peanut butter, etc, since the doctor says I have to control my sugar intake. That means I buy my maid her own spreads. But even if I could take sweet stuff, I will still buy my maid her own jam, etc. It is up to each employer to set the house rules and it has absolutely nothing to do with treating your maid as a ‘pariah’. Employers should not be made to feel guilty for not embracing their maids into their family’s bosom just because she works in their household. Let’s be very clear - a maid is an employee, not your blood relative. So long as she is fairly and respectfully treated, it is up to individual employers to decide for themselves how close a working relationship they want with their maid. To avoid any misunderstanding, I prefer to draw the line and keep things on a ‘professional’ level. That is not to say that we do not share a few jokes now and then, and my maid knows that she can always turn to me for help and advice if she has any problems. This has worked very well for both of us and my maid is into her third contract with me.

I wont send her back, just hope that shes not one that smokes alot

1)Nationality: mynmar

2) Salary per month - $330
3) No. of off days per month - none
4) No. of years of work experience in Singapore - no experience
5) No. of years with your household - 8 MONTHS
6) Any other benefits - nothing out of the ordinary
7) If you’re keen to provide description of the kind of work she does in your household, feel free to do so. - housework, accompany son to school n back
marketing, helps with cooking but does not cook

The burmese come from third world country, sure to have problems in attitude unless burmese is obedient but not many are and alot are stubborn. Mine break a lot of things and not honest to admit, very stubborn!! Never say sorry unless told to, still wont say.

I see many dont finish even one year, loan not over also send back.

Sunflower: That was a very good post, makes sense!!!

sunflower:

Hmn...interesting discussion thus far. Basically, I do agree that any adult employee should be given some form of rest day(s), as humans are not machines that can work 24/7 but still perform effectively and efficiently. Even machines need maintenance work as well. However, I feel that the \"law\" has to be built on the framework that treats maids as adults who are solely and fully responsible for their own actions, such that they bear the full consequences of their actions.


Currently, our laws seem to treat maids like children, where employers are cast into parents’ roles and be responsible for any misdeeds that the maids commit. As parents, we are naturally protective of our own children, trying our best to prevent them from getting into any trouble/danger. If we sense that certain places are not safe and will endanger our children, we will prohibit them from going there, or disallow our children from trying anything that WE think will harm them, because we, as adults, take charge of our children and are fully held responsible if anything happens to them. Children are not yet adults who can think and fend for themselves.

agree fully, good post

Current laws are really ridiculous where we have to “parent” the maids as we, not the maids, would be held fully responsible if anything happens. We have to take charge of our maids! Hence, as responsible parents (employers), many would naturally want to protect the maids like how they would protect their own children from harm. After hearing so many horror stories about maids learning bad stuff from other maids during off days, employers would try to prevent their own maids from mixing with bad companies, just like how we would try our best to “control” our children’s movement and prevent them from mixing with friends of bad influence, (well, if we can). Basically, “unreasonable” behaviours of many employers are the result of such skewed laws.

In my opinion, laws have to be crafted based on the fundamentals of treating maids as thinking adults who are also respected, not like children who can’t be responsible for their own actions (as laid down and implied by our current laws). After that, then we can talk about enforcing off days like what companies would give to any responsible, adult employees. Frankly, where on earth can you find a company who is fully responsible for its employees’ actions in their private lives (except the employers of maids in Singapore!)?

If the one day off is legalized, like any responsible company in Singapore, their staff would be duly compensated with either time-off on another day or extra pay if staff need to work overtime, on Sundays or public holidays etc. Hence, it is only right for employers to do likewise with maids if they are needed on certain official off days, and details can be arranged privately between maids and employers. To some, it may increase the financial burden on the family if no other days in a week can be time-off days for maids.

Agency United … aint a gd choice, hear many stories of delay tactics n excuses to get maid into singapore.