SINGAPORE: An unhappy employer took to social media asking others for advice on how to teach her maid to act professionally both inside and outside her house.
In an anonymous post to a Facebook support group for both employers and domestic helpers alike, the woman wrote that her new maid has been gossiping about her.
She wrote that her maid had less than 4 years of experience and despite house rules she set to protect her family’s privacy, the helper had been gossiping about her. “my best friends helper told me so. She told me my helper gossip for attention a lot. How do I explain this concept to a very simple woman, or is she just playing me?” the woman asked. The helper’s employer said that her family had been very kind, even paying the maid $875 – higher than market rate she said.
The woman also added that she gave her maid a bonus despite the helper working less than a year for her, and though “she is an average helper who can’t cook and forgets things all the time”.
“I want to give her a chance to turn it around but she will only get one chance as I am not happy about the things I heard. Maybe I wrongly assumed she understood what workplace professionalism is so want to give an example? We always act professionally with her in our home no matter the problem, we speak respectfully to her, explain things so expect the same back to us”, the employer wrote.
Netizens who commented on the employer’s post were not entirely convinced. They said that they did not know the entire story and were only hearing one side. Others also told the employer to speak to her helper.
Here’s what they wrote:
Last month, an employer took to social media with a dose of reality for domestic helpers.
In an anonymous post to a support group for employers and helpers alike, the man wrote that when other employers complained about their maids waking up late or not doing their chores, was it because of mismanaged expectations where the maids were convinced at the beginning that there weren’t many chores to do?
He added that he conveyed to his maid that if his household had not many things to be done, then he would not spend money every month to hire a maid to clean in the first place. He added : “I always set boundaries to my helper that what she need to do and what she should do bcs that is their job and have the obligation to do it well to get the pay. And as helper shouldnt have much request or feel like employer have any obligation to them other than pay them ontime and provide proper meals”.
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