SINGAPORE: An employer who wanted to transfer her helper out was met with incredulity when others came to know her maid’s salary package.
In a post to a support group for domestic helpers and employers alike, the woman wrote that she was finding her maid a new employer. The helper had been with the family for about nine months and with her previous employer for over ten years.
“She has experience working for expat employers (we’re American-Singaporean and her previous employers are Japanese). Both her previous employer and myself are available to give her a reference. She’s from Sri Lanka, has a kind and gentle disposition. She would do well with a family with older children. She’s good at cleaning, honest, takes feedback well, and can care for small dogs”, the woman wrote. She explained that she wanted to transfer her maid as the latter was not a good fit for the family.
The maid’s salary was $1050, with a $400 monthly food allowance. While netizens who commented on the post mistook this amount as a salary of $1450 monthly, the employer clarified it was not so. “ladies, I want to stress that she doesn’t get $1450 in cash monthly. She gets $1050 and up to $400 in monthly expenses covered because she cannot eat the same food as us. Also- for this type of benefit, myself and other employers are looking for a very particular type of helper. We’re looking for someone who is great with kids, fully independent and can go around SG without help to run errands, maintain household impeccably clean and can cook as well as a restaurant, while also able to meal plan and keep the house running without supervision”, the woman wrote.
Here’s what netizens who commented on the post said:
Last month, another maid working for a Malaysian expatriate family since 2018 took to social media asking others for advice on her working conditions.
In an anonymous post to a Facebook support group, the maid wrote: “The problem is with the wife , for her everything is not right even for my vegetable can’t put inside the fridge so I have to put it outside”.
She added that the first few years she was working for the family, her employer would fine her $2 to $10 for every mistake she made. The woman would then give the total amount to charity. The helper asked her agent about this, and “my agent said the MOM doesn’t allow employers to do that. Then I tell her about what my agent said and she is not Happy”.
“I try my best to do my work but for them it’s not Good enough it’s far from good it make her compare my salary with her Malaysian helper back then in malaysia which is cost lower then (sic) average salary in Singapore. She’s even not happy paying my salary and the levy’s every month to government , everytime she is angry it make me stress up , to be honest I cry a lot cause of her word. But I have no choice , when I ask about release paper she don’t want to sign”, the maid wrote.
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