SINGAPORE: An employer who hired a maid to take care of her newborn asked what she should do when the maid was not able to work independently.
In an anonymous post to a support group on social media for domestic helpers and employers alike, the woman wrote that she hired a fresh helper six months ago. “Even after 6 months of training (cooking, cleaning etc.) her personally she is unable to work independently. Always need to dictate to her what to do in spite of preparing a schedule and meal plan for her. She is very slow in her work and mostly in her thoughts. She will never take initiative”, the woman wrote adding that the maid was alright with cooking but was good at basic cleaning. She said that her helper was poor at multitasking.
The woman explained that the maid was hired to care for her newborn only because the helper had three children of her own.
“What do I need to do as an employer if I need to allow helper to take care of my 2 months old? Me and my husband both are working professionals. Is it safe to keep 2 months old with helper? From the helper’s view, how do you expect me to train her?” she asked. She added that the maid will not be asked to care for the child at night so that she can get 10 hours of sleep. The helper was also given a break in the afternoons of two to three hours.
“We don’t expect her to do any household work during our absence. Her primary duty is to take care of the baby. Past 2 months we have never asked her to anything related to baby. Me and my husband and doing everything related to the baby”, she wrote. The woman said that she was confused as to how even after six months, her maid was still not able to do housework independently.
“Should I just send her back, as I don’t have time and stamina to train her for another 6 months? And even if I train her for the next 6 months, will she be independent to handle her work? I need to spend time with my newborn after coming home from work”, the employer wrote.
Here’s what others who commented on the post said:
Earlier this year, an employer who found out about her helper’s nighttime activities took to social media to ask whether she should keep or replace the latter.
In an anonymous post to a support group on social media, the employer wrote that her helper’s main task was to look after her baby. “After just a month, she spread the COVID-19 virus to my baby who just 3 months – she is the only house member who sick and I saw her coughing in front of baby without covering her mouth”, the employer wrote.
While the helper expressed remorse, the woman then found out her maid was posting TikTok videos while the child was hospitalised.
“I just went to her TikTok profile and realise she posted video with bra only. I was a bit surprised to see that as she looks different from day time, she looks totally different from those Tim Tok video she posted. Once she entered her room at night time, she will not come to help us even though baby cry badly”, the woman wrote.